The Rise of America
by BrOwNiEfOx
Summary: Previously the End of America. America had fallen. Countries have come and taken the land that used to be America for themselves. But will America be able to rise from it's ashes, or will it just be an old memory? Disclaimer: neither Brownie nor Fox own Hetalia. Summary sucks.
1. prologue

It had all started with the new president. This new president was a determined one. He wanted to change America, habits and all. And with all of the hate directed to America, he didn't try to stop the president, and let it get out of hand. Now, America is on the verge of collapse. The only people that know this is the President and America. America was covered in wounds, the only thing keeping them from showing at meetings was the many bandaged wrapped around each.

America didn't want to wake up. Waking up meant more pain, more sadness, knowing that he wasn't the hero of his people, but the President had wanted to talk to him early today, so he struggled out of bad and began to replace his bandages with new, clean one. He slowly made his way through the white house, putting on his mask, acting as if he wasn't in pain, as if everything was fine. After what seemed like an eternity, he reached the Oval Office. There, the President was shuffling through all of the paper on his desk, not even looking up as America entered the room, a serious air all around him. This worried America. His President was usually upbeat and happy to see America, but today he just looked gloomy.

"America, good of you to come, there is something very important that I plan to do tomorrow that I need to tell you." The Personification plopped down in one of the seats.

"What is it this time? Going to illegalize burgers*? Oh, wait, you already did that. So then are you going to cut all trade? Come on, I'm dying here, tell me!" The President finally met America's sapphire eyes, and the American saw true sadness in them.

"America, tomorrow there will be a big broadcast showing in every continent and every country. There will also be the world meeting in France. I don't want you to go to either. Now before, you ask why not, let me finish." The President motioned to the now standing America to sit back down. "You know this was coming, as did I. I moved to quickly for change. I've made so many horrible choices, and I'm not even halfway through my first term, so first I would like to apologize for all I have to done to this beautiful country. Tomorrow, America, I will tell the whole world that the United Stated of America is officially dissolved." America didn't quite know what to think. He felt numb, unable to quite register what had been said. When it finally sunk in, America found he was still calm. He had been expecting it for a while now, actually. And if he was dissolved, he would not longer feel the suffering. For the first time in years, a truly happy smile graced America's face.

"Thank you for telling me before it happened, boss." America stood up. "I'm going to go and wrap up some things before tomorrow." With that, America put out his hand. "It was nice to meet you, boss. You might not have been the best president that I ever had, but you cared more about me than some of the others." The President shook America's hand, and the two looked at each other for the last time.

America stood outside of England's house, rain pounding on him. He wounds were bleeding worse than they ever had, and with the bandages wet, the crimson red fell to the sidewalk, where it was quickly washed away. Good thing too, England would probably kill him if he messed up the Brit's yard with his blood. Walking up to the door, the broken nation knocked on the door.

"England, open up, it's me America. I need to talk to you." America was planning to tell England what was happening tomorrow since he had raised him. It only seemed fair.

"Is this about your bloody economy, America?" growled England from the other side of the door, not even bothering to open it.

"Um, sort of, I guess."

"Then go away. I don't want to hear about your petty problems. I have my own economy to worry about."

"England, please, it's impor-"

"Just go away America! You've been independent for more than 200 years now. Go away and leave me alone." The America carefully stepped away from the door. He never knew that England hated him this much.

"Okay, I'm sorry I can. Good bye England." The last words he spoke to England before he went to the jet he had flown there and got back in, blood staining the seat.

America left a note on the table in his house. He it was midnight and he had spent the entire time day tying up loose ends. He took one last look at his house before walking outside. He didn't know how far he walked, or how long, all he knew was that the sun was just barely beginning to rise when he reach an old cemetery in the middle of nowhere. There, he lay down and waited for death to take him, for the world to finally be rid of the, quoted, idiotic, fat, annoying personification that was known as America.

**At the World Meeting**

America was late. The meeting had started a long time ago, yet the American Idiot was nowhere to be found. Finally, Germany told someone to turn on the TV to see if something had happened in America. Murmurs of what could be going on in America spread like wild fire.

McDonalds was having a special.

He had forgotten about the meeting.

He was down because of the economy.

A building had been hit.

They got more serious as they went, all quieting when the TV finally turned to the news. It showed the President talking about the economy and how it was going downhill, finally ending with word that nobody thought they would ever hear.

"… As to close this broadcast, I would like to say that America simply cannot carry on, and that we would do better under someone else. Get ready, because this opportunity does not come every day." The President took a deep breath, before saying the final words that would change the world forever. "From this moment on, America is officially dissolved."

Pandemonium broke out in the World Conference room, only ending when it was ended early and England, Canada, Italy, Germany, Romano, France, China, Japan, and Russia were chosen to go to America's house to see if he was still there.

When they arrived, they found the front door unlocked and the interior of the house pristine. Each of them began to search all of the different rooms of the house.

"Hey!" Canada called from the dining room. "There's a note here!" When everyone reached the kitchen, Canada read it out loud.

_Dear, well, everyone,_

_Hey dudes! This is America! I guess if you're here, you know what's happened to my nation. I tried to tell England last night, but I guess that I don't really matter that much. You all probably are glad the annoying me is finally leaving. I'm expecting to be dead by now._

_I wonder if nations go to heaven or not. Where ever they go, I promise to say high to all of our dead friends._

_Sincerely… I actually don't know what I am to you guys._

_ The United States of America_

The room went quiet; the silence only disrupted when Italy called in a shaky voice that he had found a trail of blood that was probably America's. They followed it for hours until the sun was starting to sink into the mountains, reaching an old abandoned cemetery. The trail stopped at a pool of blood, like the person who was bleeding had lain down. There was nothing there to show that America had died there except for the blood.

***The President illegalized burgers in hope that it would stop obesity.**

**A/N: Hey, Brownie here! Do you like it? I worked really hard (not really) on it. You better review. Or else I. Will. Kill. You.**

**Fox: Heh, that's enough Brownie (gives a bow) Thank you for reading. I hope enjoying it and please review.**


	2. Chapter 1

A young man looks out his apartment window. The man looked about 19 with startling blue eyes. He looked out at the world around him, hardly believing his eyes. He lived in New York City, England. Around 70 years ago, this place, and much more, had been known as America, but that was a long time ago. Now, the thirteen original colonies were back under British rule. Texas and Utah were part of Mexico. Hawaii was Japanese. Alaska was once again Russian. Florida was part of Spain. The rest, though, was now part of Canada.

The young man shook his head, trying to clear it. Best not to think about the past. He should be worrying about keeping his job, paying his rent, not about what had happened 70 years. Actually, he was on vacation, so he shouldn't be worrying about anything. With a sigh, he got up and walked outside to breathe some clean air.

If you had lived in America before it had been dissolved, you would not recognize this place. There was almost no graffiti or gangs. Few to no one smoked. The place was clean, happy, peacful, nothing like it had been all those years ago. The only people who remember those times were grandparents now, and quickly becoming great-grandparents. Things like the statue of liberty and Mt. Rushmore confused today's youth. Whose faces were on that mountain? Why did we have that giant statue? So much history… gone.

"Geez, I need to stop thinking like that, I'll just end up ruining my vacation." The boy laughed it off as he entered a store. There, he grabbed 3 cans of spray paint. He was probably going to get caught if he did what he was planning to do, maybe get in jail, but he didn't care. He was one of the few people who still thought that America could rise again, and he would die for it.

The man found a blank building in an ally and got out his red, white, and blue spray cans. He worked on his art for hours, until the sun was finally beginning to set. Stepping back, he admired his work. It was the country of America, including Hawaii and Alaska, the American flag showing on it. And just below it… just below it was one world in huge letters: HERO!

The man headed home, wondering if today would be the day he would disappeared. He felt he should have years ago, yet he hadn't. Maybe it was a sign that he would rise again. If so, then why did he always feel unstable, like he would fall apart at any moment? He sighed. He still had a week of vacation left. Tomorrow he would probably visit his mom. Like him, she was miraculously still alive.

The man cooked a quick dinner of hamburgers and walked over to where he kept his eagle, Clark. Clark was a hardly old enough to fly and had lived with the man since it had been just a fledgling, with its mother and sibling dead. Like him, the bird had survived against all odds. Clark was the man's only friend, if you could call an animal a friend. The little bird pecked at his fingers before eating its dinner.

Finally calling it a day, the man headed back to his bed and fall onto the covers. He wanted to die and not be in this limbo-like stage, but at the same time he wanted to keep living and be needed.

The United States of America, now known as Alfred Freedom Jones, finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.

**A/N: Brownie: Hi again! Thought you'd never see us again, did ya? Well, we've got something very important for ya! Listen up! We're go-(cut off by a hit to the head)**

**Fox: Brownie, you're supposed to be quiet this time (glares at Brownie before smiling at you) Sorry about that! Well, as Brownie was saying, we're just keep getting plot bunnies for this fanfic. Depending on how many favorites, follows, and reviews we get, will determine whether we will continue this or leave it as a two-shot (bows) Thank you for your time.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Warning! OC will be introduced in this chapter!**

Alfred blinked awake and looked at the calendar. For a second, he worried that he was going to be late for the meeting. Then he remembered that he wasn't a nation any more. Getting out of bed he took a quick, very cold shower before getting dressed and leaving, Clark flying behind him. First stop, Native American reservation.

To the Native Americans, he was known as the Immortal American, but he kept insisting they call him Alfred. When he arrived at their camp, there was much shouting, and h was immediately tackled by little kids.

"Hey, get off of Alfred! He's very busy and doesn't need you bothering him!" The tribe leader, Flying Eagle, ran over and picked the kids off of him. "Sorry about that Alfred. You know how much the kids like you."

"Heh, it's fine Fly, hey, do you know where Native is? I promised her that I'd visit her today." Alfred looked around as if his mom would just appear out of thin air.

"No, she's been gone all day." Alfred immediately deflated. "Hey, maybe she's just visiting another tribe. I'm sure that she'll be back tomorrow."

"Okay. See ya later Fly." Alfred had been planning on a nice, long visit with his mom today. Now, he had hours of free time and nothing to do. This extra time is what brought him to a bench in front of a fountain. As he sat there, wondering what he should do now, a girl walked over to him. The teenage girl had mid-back, black hair with a single red streak. Her eyes were a nice hazel and seemed to smile. The girl walked right over to him and plopped down next to him, head back.

"I'm booooored!" the new girl complained.

"So?" the ex-nation asked. What was this girl doing?

"Do something about it!" she answered like any idiot could know that was what she wanted.

"Dude, I don't even know your name."

"Oh, right." She held out her hand. "Katie Weiber."

"Alfred F. Jones." He shook her hand.

"Now then," Katie threw he head back. "I'm booooooored!"

"Okay, okay, so you're bored, what do y-" before Alfred could finish, he got an old memory. One of where he was trying to convince everyone that he was the hero. Wouldn't a good hero cure this girl boredom? Anyway, it's not like he had anything better to do other then dwell in his own boredom. "Okay. Have you had lunch yet?"

"Nope!" Katie bounced up, a grin that could rival his own Hollywood smile on her face.

"Okay then. I know a place, but it's hard to get to. Come on." He grabbed her callused hand and headed toward

"This is the place?" asked Katie. They currently stood in one of the few fast food restaurants. Since America had dissolved, the new leaders took down a lot of them, leaving only a few in backstreet corners where no one ever goes.

"Yep!" Alfred walked up to the counter.

"Ah, Alfred, good to see you again! The usual?" asked the cashier.

"Yeah, if you don't mind."

"Not at all, not at all." A few minutes later, Katie and Alfred had 20 burgers and were sitting outside, eating.

"You know," Katie said between bites, "these used to be really popular back when this was America." Alfred almost choked.

"Y-you know about America?!" Katie blushed.

"Yeah, it's kind of a passion of mine, researching about America. Nobody remembers it now. My grandpa fought for the country, and now nobody cares."

"Are you kidding?! I love America! I think they really had a good thing going!"

"Really? No way!" That's when Alfred noticed that Katie's eyes kept wandering up to his hair before going back to look at his eyes.

"What is it?"

"Um, do you know that there's a bird on your head?" asked Katie carefully.

"Clark? Yeah, he does that a lot. I've had him for a while." It was true. Alfred had found him abandoned when America had first fallen and had taken him in, but as soon as Clark was big enough to fly, he seemed to have stopped growing. Nations could chose one animal companion to live as long as they lived, but Alfred thought he had lost the ability years ago.

"Hehe, he's really cute." Katie gave a soft smile and glanced at her watch before bolting up. "Crap, I'm going to be late!"

"Late for what?"

"My job!" Alfred froze.

"You took the time to find a stranger and complain about how bored you were, but you forgot to leave time to get to your job?"

"Well, it doesn't start until noon, and I you looked so lonely… and now I have to leave you all alone."

"Hey, I'm fine on my own, it's not like I'm a kid." Protested Alfred, but Katie wasn't listening.

"I know, I can just bring you to my job! Come on!" Now Katie was pulling Alfred to some place. They ran down the street for about a mile (this girl didn't even bother to stay close to the building?!) when they finally came to a large building.

"Late again I see." a woman at the front desk said.

"Sorry Mary, I got caught up in stuff." Katie didn't even pause her running to talk to the Mary woman, just kept running until she reached a kitchen. There, she grabbed a cart loaded with food. "Every other month or so these important people from around the world come here for a meeting. My job is to serve each of them." Katie explained as she wheeled the cart towards the doors, but stopped abruptly, looking Alfred up and down.

"W-what is it?"

"Put these on." Katie handed him a pair of sunglasses, a hat, and a bullet-proof vest.

"What are these for?"

"You look like one of the representatives, and I don't want you to have to explain that you just look like him. At least, that's what the sunglasses and hat are for. The bullet proof vest is because they can get a little… trigger happy." Alfred quickly put the vest on.

Katie smiled at him and opened the large doors, revealing painfully familiar faces.

**A/N: Fox: Well, after much thought, me and-(is kicked to the side)**

**Brownie: ME have decided to write more! I hope you liked it! Please Review! Or Favorite! Or… Anything!**


	4. Chapter 3

Canada sat quietly as the din of the World Meeting surrounded him. They seemed to always have meetings in New York these days, not that anyone cared. Gunshots and shouts carried through the air, making the room feel like a battle field. Glancing at his watch, Canada saw that it was noon. Technically the serving girl should be here by now with the food, but Katie was known for being a bit late. As a matter of fact, she was punctually late, always exactly 5 minutes late, no more, no less. Watching the watch, she'd be here in 3, 2…

The doors to the meeting room slammed open, revealing Katie with the cart of food. Immediately, everyone sat back into their seat, ready for lunch. To Canada's surprise, though, there was a boy following Katie. He wore a hat and sunglasses, so it was impossible to see his hair or eyes, but Canada could guess even without seeing his eyes that he was surprised.

"Remind me why you guys always refer to each other by what your country is, Canada."Katie walked over to Canada, her usual smile on her face.

"Because some of our names are hard to pronounce, I've told you a million times." Replied Canada as the handed him a plate of pancakes. "Who's your friend, eh?"

"This is Alfred F. Jones. I found him at the fountain this morning."

"Nice to meet you Alfred, my name is Canada, eh." Canada shook Alfred's hand, and was surprised to see the boy was rigid. Before he could ask more about the boy, Katie and Alfred began to move down the table, serving food.

"Ve~ Thank you Katie. You look nice today."

"Thank you, Italy."

"Did you give the cook my pasta recipe? It makes the best pasta in the world."

"Yes Italy. He was more than happy to use your recipe." Alfred smiled at the reference to pasta, almost like he was reminiscing. This man seemed very strange, but as long as no fights broke out, everything would be fine. But of course, this was a World Meeting, _something _bad had to happen. And today's source is… Prussia!

"You, Alfred, how dare you imitate the awesome Prussia!"

"W-what? How am I imitating you? I don't even know you!"

"You have a bird on your head. Obviously you're trying to have your own Gilbird!"

"What?! Clark isn't an imitation of anything!" Everything went downhill from there. Let's just say that there was a fight consisting of fists, guns, birds, France, a pipe, and much, much more. And the blood probably wouldn't come out of the carpet anytime soon. The rest is up to your imagination. By the end, Canada was surprised that Alfred left the room with his life.

"Hey, did that Alfred guy remind you of anyone?" Canada asked as the two mortals left the war scene.

"No, it's just you Canada. I think I would remember an awesome mortal that can fight the awesome Prussia." responded Prussia, nursing a bruised cheek.

"Really? Didn't he remind you of America, eh?"

"Canada, you're just thinking about him because of what today is." England said as he sipped his tea. "Now then, let's continue with the meeting."

"I tried to warn you." Katie said as they left the room. Alfred grumbled in response, not in the mood to talk. It had hurt seeing them, but what had hurt even more was acting mortal. He couldn't fight back with even half his strength, or else they'd notice he's not human. And if they found out he was still alive… he shuddered to think what might happen. Now because of it he had a bleeding arm, a black eye, and a sprained ankle.

"So, should we go to your home next?"

"We?"

"You need me to keep you from falling down. Do you really think you can make it home with that ankle?"

"Fine. I actually don't live to far from here." The walk to Alfred's was surprisingly quiet. Katie seemed to have no problem supporting Alfred.

"So this is where you live?" Katie finally broke the silence, gesturing to the apartment in front of them. "Yeah, do you want to come in?"

"Really? Thanks, I was afraid you would leave me out here without _some _sign of gratitude."

"Oh yes, because I'm _so_ grateful that you got me almost killed." Katie rolled her eyes as Alfred opened the door and turned on the lights.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALFRED!" Standing near the table was a native American woman with tan skin, brown eyes, and long black hair. On the table was a cake decorated as the American flag.

"M-mom?" Alfred said in disbelief.

"You didn't think that I'd forget my own son's birthday, did you?" questioned Aiyana, smiling. Then she noticed _the girl._ "Hello there, I'm Aiyana, Alfred's mother. Who are you?"

"Katie Weiber, nice to meet you."

"Alffie, you didn't tell me there was a _girl._"

"_Mom!"_ Alfred was blushing now. "She's just a… an acquaintance."

"Aw, _Alffie_, that hurts my feelings." Katie could barely keep herself from laughing. "But really, Mrs. Jones, or can I call you Aiyana, anyway, we're just friends." Katie's eyes sparkled on the word friend.

"Where have you been anyway, Alffie? I finished making your cake hours ago." Aiyana put her hands on her hips and looked at him.

"I'll tell you late, for now let's get into the cake." Alfred rubbed his hands together and reached for a knife. A few minutes later, they were all on the couch, watching TV while eating the red, white, and blue cake.

"So your birthday is on July 4th huh? You know, that was America's Independence Day." Katie finished off her cake. Putting her plate in the sink, she headed toward the door. "Today was fun, Alfred. Let's meet by the fountain same tomorrow. Bye!" And before he could do say anything on the matter, the strange girl was out the door.

"She's a keeper." Aiyana said, receiving a pillow to the face. Aiyana threw one back, but then noticed her son suddenly seemed down. "What's wrong America?" Alfred flinched a bit at the name, his eyes getting sadder.

"Mom," now his eyes were starting to water. "Mom, I-I don't want to d-die." The tears were now streaming freely from his eyes.

"Oh, America." She wrapped her son in a huge head, letting his tears splash onto her shoulder.

"I-I want t-to be called A-America again." He felt like a little kid again, when he would run to Native America, crying about how scared he was. "W-what should I do? I d-don't want to d-die!"

"Then do something about it. Look at that girl Katie. Maybe between you, Katie, and some other youths, you could bring America back."

"D-do you think I c-could?"

"Yes, I do." Native America held her son until he fell asleep before tucking him into his son into bed and leaving.


	5. Chapter 4

Katie reached her apartment just as the sun was setting. Entering, she crept into one of the two bed rooms and saw Zech sleeping peacefully. It would be terrible if he woke up in the middle of such a deep sleep. Katie smirked.

"ZECH! I'M HOME!" shouted Katie. Zech Laitas bolted straight up. (**A/n: Zech is pronounced Zeck) **For a second, he looked around, trying to find the explosion, before realizing it was just Katie.

"Katie, I told you to stop doing that!" Zech's green eyes glared at Katie. He was one year older than her, making him 20 years old. He had vibrant orange hair and his skin was tan from the hours he spent in the sun.

"Just 'cause you told me to stop doesn't mean I'm gonna'." Katie skipped over to the kitchen. "Anyway, I'm going to make dinner, and you have to be awake to eat it." Don't get the wrong idea; even though the two of them lived together, there was nothing between. Mostly, they both blew most of their money on random stuff and needed someone to share the rent. "What did you do today anyway, I mean, besides the obvious sleeping."

"Besides the sleeping? I looked up more about my family history. Just as I thought, turns out my family had lived in Utah as far back as the Mormon pioneers. It's a shame the place is now part of Mexico." Zech watched Katie as she started to make a can of soup. "What about you?"

"I made a new friend."

"You? A new friend? Preposterous."

"Hey, just because you are my only friend doesn't mean I can't make another." Katie pouted. "Anyway, he seems really nice. We're going to meet up by the fountain tomorrow, want to come?" Katie served them their soups.

"Sure, but what do you find interesting in him, I mean, you usually don't make friend for no apparent reason."

"I don't know, there's just something about him. Not to mention he likes America."

"No way! I thought we were the only ones! With him, we can be… The American Trio!" Zech stood up and stroke a cheesy pose. Katie snorted and ate some of her soup.

"Yeah, and you can be the supreme commander." Katie walked over to a drawer and pulled out a paper and began absently folding it, an annoying habit of hers. "But you really should come. He was able to put up with _me. _Even my parents couldn't do that, leaving me with my grandparents."

"Fine, fine, but only if I get to go to that World Meeting tomorrow. I want an arm wrestling rematch with that German guy, what was his name again?"

"Germany?" Katie said. "Dude, you do know they all call each other by their nationality, right?"

"O-of course!" Zech blushed. "Wow look at the time, I better get to sleep!" Zech ran into his room, locking his door so Katie couldn't see how red his face was getting.

The next day, Alfred arrived at the fountain to see Katie talking to some orange-haired guy holding a strange, flat, square box. Looking at the guy, Alfred sensed* something in him that he didn't sense often: pure and proud American. Alfred smiled; he hadn't felt that in years. Still smiling, he walked over to where they sat and sat down next to the new kid.

"I'm booooooored!" He loudly complained.

"Alfred!" Katie squealed and hugged him. "I was so afraid you would ditch me, or hate me for getting you in trouble, or- hey, isn't your ankle hurt?" Alfred froze up.

"Um, yeah, um, it healed."

"It… healed." She raised an eyebrow.

"Um, yeah. You know, heroes heal really fast." Hero. How long had it been since he'd called himself that? "Hey, who's your friend?" _Change the subject, change the subject! _Katie obviously didn't buy it, but grinned at the mention of her friend and let it pass.

"Alfred, this is Zech, Zech, this is Alfred!" She grabbed their hands and made them shake.

"Nice to meet'cha!" Zech smiled. "So, do you really, like America?"

"Yeah."

"And thus the American Trio is made!" another cheesy pose.

"Dude, seriously, the _American Trio?!_ How idiotic are you?" Alfred asked, giving his annoying laugh. Zech blushed again.

"I know it's weird, I just thought-"

"Dude it should be the American Hero Trio! Together, we could take over the world!"

"Y-you really like the idea?!"

"Of course I do!" before their discussion could continue, though, Katie gave a scream."

"I'm going to be late again! Why's did you have to come so late _Alffie!"_

"Hey, don't call me that! And I thought you only worked one day a month!"

"It's a weeklong meeting." The newly named American Hero Trio started the run to the meeting room. "And try not to get in another fight, Alfred."

"Ha, loser you got in a fight?" Zech grinned.

"Getting into death-defying fights is Zech's job."

"HEY!" Again, they arrived at the giant building and ran into the kitchen, grabbing the cart of food. Katie quickly looked over the food before banging her head on the wall.

"Crap, I forgot the pizza!"

"No you didn't." Zech held out the square box he had been carrying. Katie grabbed it and quickly slipped the pizza onto a plate before handing Alfred the hat and sunglasses again and opening the World Meeting doors. Inside, they were considerably worse than yesterday, bullets flying everywhere, fists meeting faces, voices at ear-shattering volumes. For a moment, Alfred thought about when he was America, how he used to be in the thick of the chaos, before what sounded like a canon explosion brought him out of his thoughts. Katie calmly ducked, avoiding an axe that had been thrown her way, opened her mouth, and sucked in a deep breath.

"HEY EVERYONE! SHUT UP AND GET TO YOUR SEATS OR NO LUNCH FOR YOU!" Katie's voice rose over the din, easily cutting through the noise. The effect was immediate. One minute everyone was at each other's throats, you blink, and now they're all in their seats. Smiling, Katie walked over to Germany, placing wurst and a beer in front of the German. "Thanks for teaching how to yell, Germany!" Katie then served the rest of the countries, giving the oh so special pizza to Romano, and then stepped back, watching the Italian. After a while, he finally bit into it and, as if called, Katie rushed over.

"Does the pizza taste better than the last one?" Katie waited expectantly.

"Looks like that _idiota _chef can do something right." The Italian took another bite.

"Oh, I don't trust that chef to do anything right, so I made it myself! I'm glad you like it!" Katie skipped off, leaving Romano blushing.

"Ve~, Romano, you're face looks like a tomato!"

"S-shut up, Veneziano!" Alfred's attention was then brought to the head of the table where a small crowd was gathering. In the middle of the crowd was Zech, arm wrestling Germany. After about 30 seconds, though, Zech's arm was slammed to the table.

"Now, who else challenges my slightly less awesome brother!" yelled Prussia.

"I will!" Katie sat where Zech had sat, Zech now sulking in a corner, and grabbed Germany's arm. For a good minute and a half, they struggled, but Germany ended up winning again. The crowd cheered, but, surprisingly, it was for Katie.

"Why are they cheering for Katie? Shouldn't they be cheering for Germany?" Alfred asked Hungary, who was also cheering.

"Nobody can beat Germany, so we just see how long someone can last. Katie just broke the record!"

"New record!" Prussia yelled a second later. "Does anyone else want to go before we restart the meeting?" Alfred smirked, raising his hand.

"I would like to have a go."

***Countries have a special connection to all of their people, but because Alfred is no longer a nation, it takes someone with deep roots for him to have a connection with them.**

**A/N: Fox: *sigh* and that is my horrible excuse for a cliff hanger. **

**Brownie: Sorry we wasn't here last time.*bow* sorrysorrysorrysorry!*Smack***

**Fox: Brownie, no need to beat yourself up. Just, please review!**


	6. Chapter 5

Alfred grabbed Germany's hand and had sat down when he finally wondered if he should really give it his all, still having his super strength. _No, _he thought, _but I will break the record at least. _Feeling pressure against his arm, and began to push against Germany's arm. He was well into his 3rd minute, oohs and ah's filling the air, when he felt in.

It was a strange, numbing, tingling sensation starting in his spine and slowly spreading outward._ No, not now, not now! _Alfred thought franticly. _I-I'll jus_t _end it no-._Before he could even complete the thought, though, the tingling turned into a stabbing feeling. Gasping, he fell backwards, briefly aware that at the same time, an earthquake shook the room. Screams filled the room.

"What the-"

"Everyone get ou-"

"-ungary, are you okay?!"

"-ech, what's wrong with Al-"

Snippets of conversation reached his ears, but he wasn't really listening. The pain was everywhere. He felt like a he was coming undone, about to fall apart. These pains were the result of no longer being a nation, the reason he wished he would just fade away.

He felt a pair of hands grab his arms and another grab his legs, somehow keeping hold of the spasming limbs. They lifted him off the ground, carrying him out of the door and into the kitchen, where, after another 10 minutes, the pain finally stopped and he was able to focus on the three people above him. Two of them were Zech and Prussia, worried expressions on their faces. And the third one… the third one was a girl whose eyes were red from crying, whose face was etched with worry, who looked so sad that if it hadn't been for the red streak against the midnight black, he wouldn't have known who it was. In the two days Alfred had known Katie, not once had a some-what sad expression crossed her face.

"Y-you were just sh-shaking on the ground a-and the r-room was shaking a-and…"Katie's tears splashed on his sunglasses and hat, which had somehow managed to stay on during the chaos. A sharp tap on his head caused him to look u and see Clark pecking at his head, as if he was saying _say something!_

"Sorry about that. Every so often I get these weird seizures. They're nothing really. I'm sorry I worried you guys." Katie whipped her eyes on her sleeve and attempted at a smile, and the worry fled from Zech's face, but Prussia still looked concerned and deep in thought, as if he was looking at a puzzle that was missing a piece.

"W-well we should get to your house and make sure nothing happened to it during the earthquake Alfred. After all, your house is near here right?" Katie's face was still flushed from the crying but, her normal, broad smile was back.

"Sure, and it will be Zech's first time seeing my house. Hopefully my mom won't be there, though."

"What does Alffie not like his mother?"

"Oh, your nickname is Alffie? Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

"Shut up you two. You dare mock the leader of the American Hero Trio?"

"Hey, who said you were the leader!" The trio walked off, only Alfred aware that Prussia had been uncharacteristically quiet and was watching them walk off.

"Home sweet home." Alfred muttered and swung open the door, flicking the light on with a flick of his hand. His apartment was lit, revealing that it was still in pristine condition… if you ignored the Native American woman sleeping on the couch.

"MOM?!" yelled Alfred, staring at the woman on his couch. She had returned to her tribe last night! Why was she back?!

The Native American jolted awake and ran over to her son.

"I heard the earthquake and ran over as soon as I could, but you weren't home so I sat on the couch, but then I fell asleep because I couldn't sleep last night and- wait, you have a new friend." This was all said very fast except for the last sentence. Now, Aiyana was standing in front of Zech, staring into his eyes intently, while Zech tried back up even though he was against the door. After a quiet minute, the pulled back and smiled.

"Okay, you can be Alffie's friend. You seem like a good kid. But," her face got serious at this. "If you dare betray my trust in you, I will not hesitate to put your head on a stick, which I'm allowed to do because, 'I'm but a simple Native American.'" Zech now seemed to be trying to sink through the wall. Katie laughed and put an arm around Zech.

"Don't worry Aiyana; I've known Zech for years. He's good! He'd have to be to be part of the American Hero Trio after all!"

Smiling again, Aiyana turned toward the kitchen. "Okay then! What would you guys like for dinner, even if it's a bit early! And after dinner, there's something really important we should talk about! ~"

* * *

"You okay Prussia? You look a little sick." Germany asked his older brother. Prussia looked over at him, grinning.

"You are talking to the Awesome Prussia! Of course I'm okay!" That was a lie. How could he be okay after what had happened this afternoon? Looking outside, he declared the awesome him was going for a walk and left, Gilbird sleeping in his white hair.

Outside clouds were covering the sun, so he didn't have to worry about that. And with all the thoughts rushing through his head, he didn't need another worry.

Alfred.

America.

Why did they both seem so similar? And there was that incident this afternoon. Alfred shaking on the ground while the earthquake happened around them. It reminded him of after Prussia had dissolved and before Germany had forced him to take up the role of East Germany. He would have these moments when he felt like he was being stabbed everywhere, when he couldn't breathe, when he just wanted it to end. With each spam attach, a slowly worsening earthquake would occur. Only Germany had known about this, and had insisted he take up East Germany, afraid that Prussia would fade away. Once he had finally complied, the pains had stopped.

For a second, he briefly wondered if it was possible that Alfred was America and had been alive this whole time, playing mortal. But no, that couldn't be. Surely even that hero would have faded after so long. And there was no way he would leave the Awesome Trio without at least saying good bye if he had had the chance.

No, it definitely couldn't be America. It just couldn't.

Yet even as Prussia thought this, a small voice in the back of his head kept saying _yes, it can._

**A/N: Brownie: Yay! Beginning is almost done! We can get on with the good stuff! Yay! (Runs around with happiness… until she hits a wall)**

**Fox: Yes, this is only the beginning. It's a lot longer than I thought it would be, but that's okay. **

** The part with the earthquake and America shaking is a side effect of still living. I guess it's kind of like the land is trying to separate itself from the personification and become part of the new one, but it can't without the old nation dying first. The only exceptions are when the two nations compromise the land. (Germany and Prussia, Native America and America)**

** Please review! Thank you!**


	7. Chapter 6

They ended up having a dinner of handmade hamburgers (*gasp* what a shocker!) which were made by Alfred. Both Katie and Zech were surprised to find they were not like the fast food they had had before. No, they were much, much better. The burgers were quickly finished off and as soon as the meal was down their throats, Aiyana demanded their attention.

"You all think that America had a good idea, right?" Aiyana asked as the last bit of hamburger slid down Zech's throat. They all nodded. "And none of you are weaklings?"

"No way! Zech and I are the toughest out there!" Katie grinned while Zech slammed his face on the table.

"Good, because starting up a rebellion isn't for the weak."

"MOM! You're actually thinking about that!" Alfred slammed his hands on the table, standing up.

"Well why not? It has to start somewhere, and why not with these young kids right here?" Aiyana also standing. They had a glaring/staring contest for what felt like hours before Alfred, grumbling, sat back down, a scowl on his face.

"What rebellion?" Katie cocked her head to the side.

"You see, Alfred and I have been thinking that, if given the right circumstances, America could rise again. All it needs is a bit of rebellion. You both seem very interested in America, so the three of you could have the power to overcome this little rut that America had gotten into."

"You call this a rut?! It's been dissolved for 70 years!"

"Alfred, don't interrupt when I'm talking. Anyway, I won't force you to start, but I think that we need change. And if you do, in the end, decide to join, then I will show you a little surprise~. You have until the end of the week." And with that, Aiyana opened a window and jumped through, leaving the confused and overwhelmed trio to themselves. Zech broke the silence after about 5 minutes.

"You guys do know that Saturday, the end of the week, is tomorrow, right?" Katie got up and headed for the door, deep in thought.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, no, not by the fountain. Here at 5 pm for your decision. I have some things I have to do." As soon as the door closed behind Katie, she ran to the World Meeting Building and into the kitchen.

The next day when Katie walked into the World Meeting room, the representatives didn't even notice her. And she didn't want to be notice. Quietly Katie placed their meals on their spots and left the room, heading for the kitchen one last time, where she took out her secret stash of hundred-dollar bills. Counting, she found she had about $25,000. Katie smiled to herself and walked out the door for the last time.

In a few minutes, the chaos would tone down and the nations would realize that Katie had already come and gone without making them sit down. They would all then sit down and see a hand-made meal prepared by Katie herself, who had spent the entire last night preparing all of them. They would all read a letter written by Katie, saying:

Dear nation representatives,

Today is my last day. After I have come and served your food, I will be quitting. It had been nice and very fun. I wouldn't have quit if it wasn't something very important to me. The new serving lady should be there by tomorrow. I hope she will be more punctual than I was and can dodge bullets!

Although I'm probably going to be leaving this country altogether, I have a feeling this is not the last time we'll see each other.

You (hopefully) friend,

Katie Weiber.

Zech sat in his apartment, packing. He didn't have many belongings, but he was packing what he had.

No way he was going to turn down the opportunity to fight for something. He had always wanted to be in the army, but he didn't want to be in the British one. No, he had wanted to be in the American army. He had already quit his job at the restaurant he had worked at, now all that was left was to tell Aiyana his decision

He had never known his parents. They had died when he was little, so he had been raised in an orphanage, only knowing his last name, Laitas. When he reached 18 and was old enough to move out and get money, the first thing he bought was get a laptop and look up his heritage. After a while, he finally found Erik and Sophie Laitas, who died 18 years ago. Since then he had been obsessed with is heritage, wanting to know more and more about his history, finding out that almost all of his relatives but him and his parents had lived in Utah, his parent only moving because it was now part of Mexico.

Because of this, Zech swore that if the chance to revive America ever came, he would not turn it down. Now Aiyana was like the angel from above, giving him the chance he has always wanted. He was not about to let it pass by.

Alfred paced in his apartment, running his hands through his hair repeatedly, glacing at the clock, he saw it was 4:45 pm. 15 minutes to go. At this point the doorbell rang. Walking over, he found his mom outside, smiling as always.

"Hello Alffie, are you ready?"

"Mom, why did you do that?! I've been friendless for 70 years! _70 years!" _Clark screeched indignantly from his perch on Alfred's head at this. "Sorry Clark. No _human _friends. And just as I finally got some, you scare them off!"

"Don't be so sure, Alfred. I think they'll yes. And don't you want to be a nation again." At this comment, Alfred flinched.

"Well, that's the thing mom." He took a deep before continuing. "What if this revolution fails? What if when it fails I… I finally disappear?"

"Then we'll just have to make sure it doesn't fail. Now help me make some quick sandwiches before our guests come.

At last, 5 o'clock came, and with it, two hands knocking on the door.


	8. Chapter 7

Katie and Zech stood quietly outside the door to Alfred's apartment. They had promised not to tell the other what their decision was until they got to Alfred's, and neither was sure they wanted to know.

"Are you ready for this?" Zech asked. "What happens in there might, no, **will **change our lives forever."

"I'm the amazing Katie, only waitress who has lasted four years serving the country representatives! I can stand a little change to my boring, everyday life!" Katie gave a laugh, a laugh only Zech could tell was tinted with nervousness. Together, they knocked.

The door swung open to reveal Alfred, Aiyana standing behind him.

"You made it!" Aiyana cheered, spinning around a couple times. "Now, come in, come in, let's sit on the couch!"They all gathered on the couch, an awkward silence filling the air.

"So… What are your decisions?" Alfred finally broke the silence.

"My decision is to help start the revolution." Zech answered his green eyes serious.

"Me too!" Katie grinned. "What about you Alfred?"

"Wow, I… I didn't think you guys would actually want to do this." Alfred scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm gonna' have to say… I'll be part of the revolution." As these words left his mouth, Katie talked him in a hug.

"Yay, you're joining us!" She stepped back, her smile now a bit sad. "Well, it was good to see you all one last time, but I'm going to start the rebellion." She walked outside and grabbed a giant suitcase and backpack that had been near the door.

"WHAT?!" Zech yelled, staring at Katie like she had grown another arm. "We just found out yesterday about this rebellion and you already are diving head-first into it?!"

"Yep!" Katie said, grinning. "I planned out the beginning of it on this paper." Katie tossed a paper airplane to the group of three, Aiyana catching it and looking it over. "See you guys in Texas!" and with that she was out the door.

"I still think that she's a good choice." Aiyana's voice filled the sudden silence.

"Shut up mom!"

"Okay, okay, but she does have a pretty good plan. I think it's your best bet." Aiyana held up the paper, which Zech quickly snatched up and held out so both him and Alfred could read it. The paper had an old map of the area that used to be the US of A. Texas was circled in red pen, and at the bottom was a list:

Texas = lots of room, good start, good base

Me = 'grave digger'

Zech = speaker

Alfred = mural/graffiti (he signed his name on all of those pictures in the alleys)

"What the heck is this supposed to be?" Zech spat, staring at the paper.

"It's… it's brilliant." Alfred grabbed the paper from Zech, staring at it.

"Okay, but what _is _it?"

"Well, it's the plan to get the first state. She decided Texas would be the best because it gives us a base to stay and plan, there's a lot of room for others in the rebellion, and it gives us somewhere to start." Alfred explained, Aiyana nodding in agreement as she started making a cup of tea. "The grave digger part… I don't get what that is, but she planned what each of us are going to do to start out the revolution. I would be doing graffiti to get the attention of the backstreet people, while you confront the normal people straight out."

"Whoa, slow down, you do graffiti?"

"This is my first time hearing this." Aiyana stirred her tea and took a sip. "I never knew my son was a delinquent."

"Mom, it's just a pass time!"

"It's still graffiti!" Aiyana chimed and started for the door. "Now, why don't you show us these masterpieces, my little delinquent?" Grabbing Alfred by the collar of the shirt, she dragged him out the door, Zech following behind.

(time skip :3)

Alfred, Zech, and Aiyana currently stood in an alley, staring at the giant graffiti infront of them.

"You did this Alfred?" Zech said, as they looked at a giant American soldier, holding a gun in on hand and a flag pole in the other, the American flag waving. Below the soldier were the words: Protecting What Matters.

"Um, yeah. I had a lot of free time until just two days ago, so I would just come out here and design." Alfred said sheepishly. "Is it good?"

"It's… amazing. I can see why Katie chose you to be the mural part." Zech couldn't take his eyes off of it. It must have taken years to get learn how to shade like that using spray paint, to be able to get it just right… "Wait, how many of these have you done?"

"Um, I lost count after the 50th." Alfred scratched the back of his head. "Anyway, we need to book a flight to Texas. The American Hero Trio needs to be together to do this. To the base!" Alfred declared before he, Aiyana, and Zech headed back to Alfred's house.

* * *

Prussia sat in the World Meeting room alone. Everybody else had left for the day, but he kept rereading Katie's letter. Katie wouldn't do this just to look for a new job. No, this had to do with the Alfred guy. He ever took off those glasses of hat, and he always seemed on edge, and would shut himself out whenever one of the nations got close to him. Before he could think more on the matter, a crash from the kitchen ripped Prussia out of his thoughts.

Walking over to the kitchen, he saw Katie on the floor, rubbing her head, a large pot laying on its side next to her.

"Stupid pot!" Katie grumbled, getting up and putting it back. She then reached into the same cabinet that the pat was in and took out a shotgun and a shovel. "It's a good think the chef never uses this cabinet, or else you would've been thrown away, wouldn't you Lily?" Katie was talking to the shotgun. "And you too, Gaia." And now she was talking to the shovel. "I wouldn't have had to keep you guys here if Zech would just let me keep weapons at the apartment."

"Katie, what are you doing back here?" Prussia finally spoke up. Katie looked like a deer in the headlights.

"Oh, um, just picking up some stuff before I leave."

"Katie, you've worked here for four years. Why are you so unawesomely leaving all of a sudden and where to?"

"Well, why I'm leaving is kind of classified, but I can tell you where I'm going. I've decided to go to Texas, Mexico." Katie smiled weakly, waiting for more questions. But Prussia had a different strategy in mind.

"Okay then. Hopefully you'll see the awesome me again!" Prussia walked out of the room, but as soon as he turned the corner, he ran to the back of the building where he saw Katie running out from a different set of doors. He made sure to stay hidden as he watched Katie picked the lock of a plane that sat there as a monument. The plane had been America's, and Britain put there in honor of his dead ex-colony. He could see two objects next to the Katie, probably her luggage. After a second, she picked the lock and stuffed her things is, before running to the front, hot wiring it, and taking off. As he watched her fly away, he wondered if she had ever flown a plane before. Putting the thought aside, he focused on his new objective: go to Texas.


	9. Chapter 8

Katie stared at the ground in front of her, all of her focus on it as she pushed the shovel in and ripped some of the ground out, every so often taking out an old map and looked at it. She had arrived/crashed in Texas a few hours ago and started off by getting out her map, going to the nearest beach, and starting to dig. After a while, though, she could feel eyes on her. Looking, she was a boy a little younger than her, maybe 18 staring at her as she worked, his longish blonde hair waving slightly in the breeze.

"What'cha staring at?" She asked, not even pausing her digging.

"What are you doing?" The boy's voice had a Southern accent to it. At this question, Katie stuck her shovel into the ground, leaned on it, and stared at the boy like he was a complete idiot.

"What does it _look _like I'm doing?"

"Um, digging a trench?"

"Someone give the boy a prize!" Katie pulled her shovel out of the ground and resumed her digging, only to have the boy step in front of him. "Could you get out of my way, I'm trying to dig here."

"_Why_ are you digging?" With a sigh Katie put down her shovel and took off the backpack she was wearing. This guy wouldn't be going away for a while, and she had gotten a lot of work done today, so she might as well set up camp and explain what she was doing.

"Well, you see, my friends and I are going to be starting a revolution to bring back America. They still need to get to Texas, but when they come they'll help in their own way. My part is what I call the 'grave digger'. I'm making the world see the border between Mexico and America. It's not huge, but it's something. Our goal is to in the end have all 50 states back to being the Unite States of America… and you probably don't get a word I'm saying. Most people don't know about America."

"N-no, on the contrary, my parents and I are obsessed with it! They even named me George Washington after the first president. Of course, my last name is Jolley, so it kind of ruins it, but they're even started thinking about changing our last name when I moved out!"

"That's so awesome! My p-"Katie stopped abruptly on the word before gathering herself and continuing. "My pa-parents didn't know or care about America." Looking at the sun, Katie was it was about 3 hours until the sun set.

"It was nice meeting you George, but I've got to set up camp and do my nightly exercises before it gets to dark." George said goodbye and left back to his house not too far from where Katie was.

The next day George came back with a shove. George helped her with her digging for a day before heading back home, promising he would make sure that the ditches near him didn't get filled in.

"_Flight 27B will now be boarding, I repeat, 27B is now boarding."_

Zech, Aiyana, and Alfred sat in the airport, waiting for their own plane to start boarding. This was now the 10th plane that was boarding that wasn't theirs.

"What the f-"Alfred started, exasperated, but Zech cut him off, whipping out a bar of soap.

"Don't. You. Dare." Zech threatened through his teeth.

"Dare do what? All I was going to say was f-" Alfred once again started, but before he could finish, the soap bar was shoved into his mouth.

"I do not like people swearing. Why do you think all the Nation representatives are all so clean-mouthed when I was in the room? They fear this soap bar." Alfred spat out the bar.

"Sorry dude, next time give me more of a warning." Alfred wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

"It's okay, just don't do it again." Zech took back his soap and picked back up the book he had been reading.

"What's that you're reading, Zech?" Aiyana, who had smiled all through the small fight, asked.

"Hm? Oh, the book. It's kind of interesting. It's a fictional book about a world called Mirala. There, there are people who represent each country, kind of like the people at the meetings, except in this they _are _the nations. They feel what happens to their land and people and they can only die if their Nation dissolves." Zech began to ramble on about the plot and stuff, but both of the former nations had tuned him out.

"Um, Zech, who wrote that book?" Alfred interrupted Zech in the middle of a detailed description on all of the characters.

"Let me see… Michael G. Fitzgerald. Hey, wasn't that the last President of the United States of America before it got dissolved?"

"I believe it was." Alfred forced a smile. He wasn't angry that his last Boss had revealed the secret as a book. No one ever believes books. No, he had to force a smile to show that he wasn't crying again about the loss of his nation.

"Hey, is it okay if I read that book Zech?"

"Good timing, I just finished." Zech handed the book to Alfred before pulling another out of his bag.

"What's that?"

"The sequel." Zech answered before burying himself into its pages. Alfred gave a small chuckle before opening his own book and starting to read.

At the front of the book was the dedication, which read: _To the Red, White, and Blue himself if he was a person._ The main character was the personification Caremia, a very fun, loving person. Then, one day, the Caremia's nation began to take a turn for the worse. First the economy begins to decline, and then a huge debt begins to come on. The other nations began to turn their backs to him, leaving him alone. Things kept getting worse and worse, yet somehow Caremia was able to act as if it was nothing, even the civil war that was going inside of him. Just as Alfred was hungrily waiting to read how Caremia would escape the mob that was trying to burn down the city, when Aiyana shook him lightly and told him that their flight had been called. The second Alfred sat down in the plane, he whipped out his book.

Just as the plane was landing, Alfred was reading the very end. Caremia had been dissolved, and now all of the nations were grieving over his death, crying, saying how they hadn't know he had been in such a bad state, that they should've helped him. While Aiyana got them a rental car and picked up their rental car, he read the last words of them book.

_In a forest, a boy with blonde hair, a stubborn cowlick, and blue eyes woke up, wondering why he was still alive. _Alfred closed the book, whipping a few stray tears from his face and looked at the book in Zech's hands hungrily.

**A/N: Brownie: Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease don't kill us! We swear we were just too busy to update!**

**Fox: Don't worry Brownie, its just one day later than we hoped. We are sorry though for being a bit late.**


	10. Chapter 9

"So… we're in Texas. Now what?" Zech asked Aiyana and Alfred as they walked miscellaneously around Texas. "We don't even know where Katie is."

Alfred had been quiet the entire time that Zech complained, thinking hard before coming to a conclusion.

"Zech, let's split up and see if anyone's seen someone matching Katie's description around here, you check the south and north while Aiyana and I check the east and west. We both have phones, so when someone gets something we can just call the other, tell them where she is, and meet up there." Alfred finally spoke up.

"Alfred that has got to be smartest thing I've ever heard you say. See you guys in a bit!" Zech ran off toward the north-south part of town. Alfred waved goodbye before running off toward an alley. There, he crouched down and closed his eyes.

"Alfred, what are you doing? It's obvious that you have no intention of searching the whole city for her." Aiyana knelt next to Alfred.

"You'll see, just… hold onto me." Alfred said before casting out his mind to his nation. Nations can feel their people, and, if they focus, they can feel each on separately. It's always a weird feeling when they do this, but in Alfred's case, it HURT. It was like someone was squeezing his head until it would explode. It used to be so easy when he was an official personification, but now it was just painful. A scream exploded unbidden from his mouth. Aiyana immediately began to hug her son.

Finally, he got something. A girl, focused on the ground, digging a trench into the Texas earth. There might have been more people, but that was all he could get before the pain became to immense, only catching one key word: _border._

"She's on the old border between Mexico and America!" Alfred shot off the ground and started running to the rental car, Aiyana taking out her cell and calling Zech. They ended up picking Zech up and taking him in the car with him, since he hadn't had time to go very far.

"Wow that was fast, how did you guys find someone?"

"Guess we were just lucky!" Aiyana said in her usual light voice, but Zech didn't see her glance worriedly at her son, who was clutching his head between his hands in pain. There was a dull thrumming in his head, an after effect of searching through what used to be his people. It was slowly receding, slowly being the key word.

"Where is she anyway? Because if she's far, were going to need to stop by a bookstore so I can buy the third in the Lost Caremia series."

"You're almost to the end of the book?" Alfred began to feel better.

"No, but if it's far I'll want the next one." And now he felt like crap again.

"Well, we'll be heading to the old border, so about 3 hours from where we are now. Do you think you'll need it?"

"No, I still have a long way to go." And now the headache was worsening. _Maybe I'm going through book withdrawal, _Alfred thought through the buzzing in his head.

"You know, I don't have to read the whole time, let's sing a song. One hundred bottles of beer on the wall, one hundred bottles of beer~" Alfred groaned. It was going to be a long trip.

When they finally arrived as close to the border as they could get by car, Alfred burst through the car door, practically tearing it off the hinges.

"Fresh air!" Alfred yelled. His headache had finally cleared out, the singing… not so much. Zech ended up singing the entire ride there, joined by war cries and Native American songs by Aiyana. Needless to say, Alfred had been ready to jump out of the car 2 hours ago.

"Come on Alfred, it wasn't that bad." Zech patted Alfred on the back.

"Your right, it wasn't, that is, it wouldn't be so bad _if I'd had that book!" _Alfred growled the last words.

"Okay, okay, don't bite my head off! We still have quiet some way to go until we reach the border." Zech had a laugh in his voice, like he was trying not to burst out laughing. "On the way there, we can sing more~"

"Zech, don't be stupid." Aiyana scolded him. "On the way there I can demonstrate some Native American dances!"

(Time skip)

After about an hour or so of Alfred and Zech walking while Aiyana danced and seeing nothing but old houses, they finally began to see something else. It looked like a bunch of dots at first, but as they got closer, they could see the dots were people.

"HEY, YOU GUYS, ARE YOU HERE TO HELP?!" One of the figures ran over to them, holding a shovel. The girl was tan and was sweating slightly and stopped abruptly upon seeing them. "Wait, you guys wouldn't happen to be Zech, Alfred, and Aiyana, would you?"

"Yeah, I'm the hero!" Alfred grinned. The girl spun around happily.

"Yes, you fit Katie's description perfectly! Come on, she's been waiting for you!" the girl grabbed Zech's and Alfred's hand and began to pull them toward the group of people. "Katie's really changed my life. I had no idea about America before I met her earlier today. I'm definitely going to be joining the revolution when it really gets started!"

The girl led them to a long ditch running in the ground. Multiple kids were inside it, making it wider, while at the head of ditch was a teenage girl with midnight black hair and a red streak.

"Katie, this is what you meant by grave digger!" Aiyana ran over to Katie, pulling her into a hug. "I was afraid that it meant actual graves! I should have know my little revolution starter would have something more productive in mind! How was your trip here?"

"It's good to see you Aiyana! It was an interesting trip over here. I found this old plane behind World Meeting building and rode it here. I ended up kind of banging it up on my landing though…"

"You what?!" Alfred yelled. "Do you know how much that plane meant to me?! It was one of the things that reminded me of Amelia, and now it's destroyed?!"

"A-alfred, you hadn't been to the World Meeting building until a few days ago, how could that plane mean anything to you?"

"Oh, um, I must be thinking of a different plane. Why don't I help you dig?" Alfred picked up a shovel in a desperate try to change the subject.

"Katie, I started reading that book you recommended!" Zech held up the 2nd book in the Lost Caremia series.

"Really, you are? Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's fantastic! Best book I've ever read!"

"It's the reason that I wanted to join the rebellion and get started so quickly." Katie smiled, but couldn't help but glance in Alfred's direction. Of course, there was another reason. There was something that Alfred was hiding, and he had flinched badly at the mention of the book. Katie was going to do anything to find it out, even if it meant going into a war. She had a feeling that the secret was worth even more than a war, though.

**A/n: Browniefox: Okay, we've come to a conclusion. We will be trying to update twice a week to every other day. Please review!**


	11. Chapter 10

They had worked on the 'grave digging' for about 4 hours before Katie called it a day, in that time they learned about George Washington Jolley, the first to meet Katie, and how others had just kind of shown up. The girl they had met, Elise Thatcher, was the newest member to the group. All of the people returned to their house after the hard day of work and then took up the task of watching over the ditch that was nearest them.

"So you've just been camping out here for the last few days?" Zech asked, receiving a nod from Katie. "That must have been hard." Aiyana gave a cough at this.

"Native American's do all the time. Just saying." Alfred rolled his eyes, talking sip of the hot chocolate Katie had made them.

"It was nice catching up with you guys, but shouldn't you be working?" Katie also took a sip from her cup. Both of the boys froze, Zech nearly choking on his drink. "You guys look surprised. Did you think that _I _would be doing everything?"

"Wha-what?! Of course not, we just wanted to make sure you were, um, safe, you never know what could happened out here. We did go through a lot of trouble to find out where you were."

"You could've just called." Katie held up her cellphone, causing Zech to actually choke on his hot cocoa. Alfred had to heroically perform the Heimlich on him to get the water out.

"You had your phone?!"

"Never leave home without it. Honestly, I thought my ex knew me better than that." Aiyana gave a gasp.

"Scandalous!" Aiyana leaned in, like a teenage girl finding a good piece of gossip.

"You two were… boyfriend… girlfriend…"Alfred couldn't make a complete sentence.

"Sort of. We tried it once, because we were so close, but things just didn't click, so we broke up. We did go on a few dates though, and they were the…" The rest Katie said so quietly that Alfred couldn't hear.

"They were the what?"

"They were the best dates of my life." Katie's voice was almost too quiet to hear and she was blushing fiercely. "You guys had better head back to the car before it gets dark. It was nice seeing you guys! But you have a lot of work to do! Bye!"

"See you later Katie! Have a nice 'grave digging'!" Aiyana pushed the males in the direction they had come from, shooting a wink at Katie.

The ride back to the city was quiet. Aiyana drove, Alfred stared out the window, and Zech slept. When they reached the city, Aiyana got them a room in a hotel and Alfred carried Zech into the room before he himself drifted into a quiet slumber on the ground. (There were only 2 beds.)

Zech woke to the cocking of a gun and a bullet in front of him face. Jumping awake, he looked for the murderer, but was instead greet by Alfred pointing a pistol at him, holding it in one hand and a book in the other.

"Oh, it's just you Alfred, what do you want?" Zech began to relax.

"Don't act like you don't know what I want, Zech." Alfred spat out his name like it was venom in his mouth. "You have two options here. The first is that you just sit there while I put a bullet in your head." Alfred's finger tightened on the trigger as he said this. "The second option," Alfred threw the book he was holding to Zech. "Is finish this d- I mean stupid book so that the hero can finally read it."

The book on Zech's lap was the second book in the Lost Caremia series. A smile broke out on Zech's face.

"Well, I myself have one condition." Zech smirked. "I'll read the book if you get started on your job."

"It's a deal." Zech and Alfred shook hands.

Alfred left soon after with his entire supply of spray-paint cans and a sketch book. From there he just walked until he found somewhere ideal for art. Looking at the blank wall in front of him, he began to sketch. And eagle there, a hearts here, maybe a flag around there? No no no, that wouldn't do. That paper was crumpled. Maybe a collage of American things? No, that wouldn't do either. As he began on his third sketch, he felt the tremors coming on. Placing the sketch book down, he let the pain roll over him, let the pain come with the earthquake, the feeling of a bullet ripping through his frame multiple times. It passed after a few minutes, leaving Alfred weak and frail. He hated when this happened. He hated it with all of his soul, mortal or immortal he didn't know. He was like a ghost, just floating on this land…

"THAT'S IT!" Alfred jumped off the ground, all pain forgotten, and started to sketch. "Thank you earthquake!"

"Book." Alfred walked into the apartment to see Zech reading the third book in the Lost Caremia series.

"I want to see it first," Zech got off the bed and dangled the second book in front of Alfred's face. "or no book for _Alffie."_

"I was going to insist you do anyway." Alfred made a grab for the book, but it was pulled out of his reach. "It took me a while to get the look right, so I hope people do end up seeing it." The twosome exited the building and headed to the alley. When they reached the graffiti, Zech's jaw hit the ground.

The mural was a picture of the mainland of what used to be America, but with the new nation's flags on the parts they now owned. It would've been a mural to the new world if there hadn't been the American flag on top of it, faint like a ghost. On the bottom were the words _WE'RE STILL HERE._ Zech reached out a hand to touch the artwork, but Alfred slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch it, it's still wet." Alfred scolded. "By the way that you can't seem to get your jaw off the ground, thought, you must think its good."

"It's amazing! I really like how the American flag is so faint that you almost can't see it. Your mom must be proud. Where is your mom anyway?"

"I thought she was still at the apartment." An awkward silence filled the air.

"Dude, did we just lose your mom?"

* * *

"Okay, who are you and why are you following me?" Prussia had arrived in Texas before the sun had even begun rising and already had someone tailing him. It was probably just because they were interested in his awesome albino-ness, but it still bothered him.

"Really, why so harsh _Prussia?"_ A Native American woman stepped out from behind a building.

"How do you know my awesome name?"

"My son is Alfred." The Native American answered. "I just thought you should know to be careful when dealing with Alffie, he can get mean. And you should get a fake name, most people will get suspicious of an old personification just showing up."

"What-" Prussia began, but the strange lady seemed to have disappeared.

**A/N: Fox: it's admittedly a bit filler-ish, and maybe not the best chapter, but it need to be there. Please review!**


	12. Chapter 11

Aiyana hummed to herself as she headed back to the house. Hopefully she would get back in time for breakfast, maybe make her delinquent and Zech omelets. This plan was soon foiled when she saw the two of them running over to her.

"Aiyana, where have you been, we were afraid we lost you!" Alfred scolded her.

"Alffie, I'm not a kid, I can be out alone!" Aiyana gave a grin.

"Whatever, any way we got you something." Alfred put something around her neck, fastening it in the back.

"Oh, is it a choker necklace?" Aiyana touched it, not noticing as Zech clipped something onto it until the boys started to walk away and she felt a pull. "Is that a… leash?!"

"Sorry Aiyana, we're not losing you again!" Zech gave it a tug, causing Aiyana to move faster.

"You do know that I have thumbs and can just take the leash off, right?" The two boys started at her for a second before Zech reluctantly unclipped the leash and Alfred face-palmed.

"So now where to now?" Aiyana skipped ahead happily.

"Aren't you going to take off the collar?" Alfred asked confused.

"No, I kind of like it." Aiyana spun around and shot a wink at them. "Haven't you heard that dog collars are the new fashion?" This was greeted by fits of laughter from Zech and Alfred. Aiyana gave a sigh, rolling her eyes. "You two know nothing about fashion."

"And you do?" Zech managed to gasp out through the laughter wracking him. After a few seconds and some weird looks from random people walking around, the two boys straightened themselves, faces red from laughing at her. "Where were you this morning anyway, Aiyana?"

"Hm? Oh, just kind of around. Nothing that was important… yet." The last word was said to quietly for Zech or Alfred to hear.

"Oh, mom, you have to see my newest art piece, I worked on it this morning!" Alfred grinned as he thought of his graffiti, and Aiyana could see a bit of his Hollywood grin coming back. The three-some started to walk to the alley.

"Hey," A random girl stopped them, looking at Aiyana. "Cute choker, it really goes with your dark skin." The girl then left the now smirking Aiyana, both Zech and Alfred trying to glare holes into her back.

"Okay guys, I think after another hour or so I'm going to wrap it up today. How you holding up?" Katie looked back to see how her fellow diggers were doing. Today she'd gotten a good batch. 11 kids worked behind her, breaking the earth, each of them sweating. each day, more and more kids kept coming. It was a miracle that none of them complained about the work.

"Excuse me, but are you Katie Weiber?" Katie jumped at the voice and turned to see a man standing behind her. The man wore a suit and was holding a notepad and pen. Next to him stood a girl around 16, holding a shovel and looking at the other diggers longingly.

"That's me!" Katie grinned. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, my daughter here has told me a little bit about you. I work for the local newspaper, and I have a feeling that this is going to be big. Is there any way that I could interview you?"

"I would love to, but you see Mr…"

"Asher Winkle."

"Mr. Winkle, that isn't my job. But I _do _know somebody who would be more than happy to let you interview them."

"Really? Who is this person?" Asher began looking around. Katie gave a laugh.

"He's not here. He's in the city. Tell you what, when I finish for the day, we can get in your car, and you can drive us to him. I can direct you as we go."

"Okay, sure, I'll just wait back here until you're done." Asher took a step back. Katie then turned to face the girl that had stood next to him.

"Hey there, what's your name?"

"U-um, Maria W-winkle, nice to meet you."

"Why are you so nervous? I swear, I haven't bitten anyone since the third grade." Katie gave a small laugh. "Why don't you get yourself acquainted with the other grave-diggers?" Katie gave the girl a small push in the direction of the other kids. Maria scampered off to a group of girls. Katie watched as Maria slowly wormed her was into the clique before returning to her own work.

"Okay, and then you take a right…" Katie sat shotgun in Asher's car, Maria sitting behind them. Katie couldn't believe that the GPS signal that she had secretly installed into Zech's phone actually worked! "… and then it's the apartment right there."

The three passengers got out of the car and went up to the house. Katie knocked repeatedly on the door until someone answered it.

"Katie, why are you here? How did you find us?" Zech asked as Katie sauntered into the apartment, Asher and Maria following behind her.

"Elementary, dear Watson. And I'm here to be helpful, like I usually am." Katie walked into the kitchen where Alfred and Aiyana sat eating grilled cheese sandwiches.

"Yes, you were very helpful when you nearly shot me when we were at the shooting range." Zech snorted.

"Hey, you were in my way." Katie defended. "A iyana, is that a new necklace? It looks good on you. Alfred, Zech, why are you guys hitting your head on the wall?"

"It's nothing." Zech grumbled, rubbing his forehead.

"Anyway, the reason I'm here is… Asher!" Katie said Asher's name like it was the answer to the universe. "Asher is a reporter for the local newspaper and wants some insight on what we're doing, and since it's your job…" Katie gave a shrug. "Just seemed to right to let him interview you.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Come on Asher, let's go to a quieter room where you can ask me anything you want." The two walked off, Maria following behind.

"Hey Aiyana, there's something that's been bothering me lately." Katie broke a sudden silence that had settled in.

"What is it dear?"

"You said that if we joined the rebellion, you would give us a surprise. What is it exactly?"

"Oh, right, I almost forgot!" Aiyana ran over to her bag. "It was hard to sneek past security, but I couldn't just leave them." Aiyana pulled three pistols from her bag. "Surprise!"

**A/N: Please don't kill me. I could list excuses, but no one like those. I change my last promise to once a week.**


	13. Chapter 12

Katie ended up staying the night. The next morning they all sat around the table eating bowls of cereal or toast, waiting for Zech to return with the morning paper. After an eternity in 5 minutes, Zech burst through the front door reading the newspaper intently.

"It's not bad," Zech placed the paper on the table. "Not bad at all." The other three crowded around it, reading:

_An Uprising?_

_ Yes people, we could very well be looking at an uprising on our hands. Recently, there have been reports of a group of people digging along the old border that used to separate Mexico from America. For those of you who don't know what America was, it was a large country that existed about 70 years ago. These days, few know about it from it being at the back of textbooks and teachers not finding the time to teach it, not to mention that it's never on the any CBT/CRT tests._

_ One of our reporters, Asher Wilkins, decided to investigate after his daughter came to him asking where the shovels were. When he asked her why, she had simply replied to help Katie and America. Following his daughter, he found a group of about 11 kids widening a trench in the ground. At the head of the trench was the leader of the group, Katie Weiber. Asher tried to get an interview with Katie, but she declined and instead directed him to a young man named Zech Laitas, who he then asked what they were doing and why._

_ "We are trying to bring back America." Zech replied. "And when we bring it back, it will be stronger than before. Sure our group is still small and weak, it can hardly be called a group, but someday we will get all the states back and become America again."_

_ An uprising is happening, citizens of Texas, Mexico. Now the real question is, what side are you on?_

"Heiii, Zech, it's wonderful!" Katie threw her arms around Zech's neck, causing Zech's face to resemble Romano's when he was embarrassed.

"Better be careful Alffie, Katie might be slipping through your fingers!" Aiyana teased.

"Mom, we. Are. Just. Friends!"

"You believe whatever you want, just invite me to the wedding."

"Alfred that reminds me-" Katie started.

"Please tell me you're not asking to go on a date." Alfred groaned.

"What?! No! I was just thinking that you should start wearing your hat and sunglasses more."

"Oh. Why?"

"You might end up on TV sometime, and if people find out you look like a Canadian representative, we might start getting rumors that could ruin you. Plus who doesn't like a little mystery in things?"

"Fine, I'll go out and buy some." Alfred started for the door, but ended up swinging by his room and grabbing his spray paint and book. Why not have a little Him time?

* * *

Alfred sat back and admired his work. This time it was simple art piece. It was UPRISING in red, white, and blue. Now he picked up his book and began to read. He had started reading it last night. So far it was about Caremia trying to find any meaning in life, having no one know that he was still alive. Alfred hungrily devoured the book, finishing it quicker that he would have like. It ended with Caremia meeting a group of resistance who wanted a change in their life, who wanted a free land. At the very end of the book, Alfred found an author note.

_Dear reader,_

_ I regret to inform you that I am writing this book with the very last energy in my life. Whether someone will ever take up the responsibility to write a 3__rd__ in the series, that is up to the public. Unless that happens, what happens to Caremia is up to you. Did he join the resistance, or did he just live out his existence? If he did join the resistance, did he make it through or not? That, my reader is all up to you. With that, I must say my final good bye._

Alfred threw the book against the wall in front of him. He glared at it for a few silent moment before getting up and picking it off, dusting off it's cover.

"Better be getting back." Alfred said to himself. Putting on his sunglasses and hat, he grabbed his things and was about to leave when a yell stopped him.

"Hey, you over there, are you the person who did the picture in the alley next to this?"

Turning, Alfred saw a group of three people, all of them having a bag filled with spray paint.

"Yeah it was me."

"What's your name?" The leader of the group walked up to him.

"Alfred F. Jones. You?"

"The name's Parker Lipscomb, and these are my friends Dylan Bawden and Hailey Blackburn." Parker gestured to the two people behind him, each giving a small wave. "We saw the work you did in the other alley, and it was really good. By the look of it, you have something to do with that uprising thing that we saw in the paper."

"Yeah, I'm the third part of the American Hero Trio!"

"American what? Anyway, we want to know more about it. We were, wondering-"

"-If you could teach us about America!" Hailey broke in. Dylan gave a nod.

"Sure. Take a seat," Alfred gestured to the boxes he had been sitting on. "This is going to take a while."

* * *

Prussia looked at the paper. Katie and Zech were really making a name for themselves. Hopefully they didn't do anything stupid though.

"Prussia, what are you reading?" Germany poked his head into the room. When Prussia had told the other nations that Katie, Zech, and Alfred had gone to Texas, they had all been eager to know what the three-some was up to. The next world meeting was quickly moved to Texas, and moved to the front of the month. It would be in about a week from now, but since Prussia had already been in Texas, Germany decided to come early as well.

"Nothing important." Prussia folded up the newspaper. Truth be told, he was a bit angry that the other nation were in on his little project. He had decided to keep everything he found out to himself, he hadn't even told Germany about the run in with the Native American woman.

"If you say so." Germany left the room, calling back, "Dinner will be ready soon, so clean up."

Prussia gave a sigh. Sometimes Germany acted like he was the older brother, and Prussia was the younger one.

"Okay, but the awesomeness that is me is going for a quick walk. If I'm not back in time, just eat without me!" Prussia walked out the door and began to just meander around the alleys, every now and then checking his watch to make sure that not too much time had passed.

"-and now we get to the civil war. That war killed the most American's than any other war. But we'll get to that tomorrow, it's getting late guys. How about meeting here at noon tomorrow? I'll bring Zech and Katie with me tomorrow before Katie leaves again." Alfred's rang through the alleys. Looking down one, Prussia saw three people witting on boxes, looking like young school kids as they listened to Alfred relay America's history.

Backing away quietly, Prussia stored this information in the back of his head.

**A/N: Brownie: Tada! An extra chapter to show how sorry we are! I hope you enjoyed it! I promise something big will happen soon, but not until another chapter or two! BYE!**


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: I would like to clear something up. I am NOT purposely writing a pairing with Katie and Alfred, it's mostly just Aiyana being a mom. If you think it's a pairing and like it, be my guest to think so, but it is not on purpose.**

_(Time Skip: 2 days)_

Alfred had gathered quite a group by now. Just as Katie had people digging by her, Alfred had people helping him with his murals. As they worked, Zech would come by and talk about the history of America. Parker, Hailey, and Dylan, stayed with, kind of like his second, third, and fourth in command. Alfred and his group were working on a mural of a shovel, a can of spray paint, and a microphone, when Alfred felt his phone vibrate.

"Hello?" Alfred held the phone to his ear, stepping away from the work.

"Hey Alfred, it's me." Katie's voice came through the phone. "I have great news! It's done."

"It's done?! How'd you pull that off in so little time?"

"Well, some people heard and all started in different parts of the border, one person from the other side, and they all just kind of connected."

"… your group is crazy."

"Says the delinquent."

"Yup. I'm going to get the message moving through my chain of people to get to town. We should get most of the people there in time. You and your people better be ready."

"We will be. See you soon."

"Bye." Alfred ended the call, putting his cell phone.

"Hey Zech!" Zech stopped talking to a group of graffiti's, looking at Alfred. "It's almost time.

_(Time skip: 5 days)_

Zech looked at the microphone in his hand. He was nervous beyond belief, not that he'd say that out loud. He looked over at Alfred and Katie, also holding microphones, both fidgeting nervously. Alfred was wearing his hat and sunglasses like usual.

One of Alfred's graffiti's ran up to him and whispered quietly in his ear.

"Parker says that the graffiti's are ready. All the art work is done." A grave digger, George, ran to Katie, handing each of them a piece of paper.

"These are the escape routes." George explained quietly. "When you're done talking with the representative's, use one of the back alley's to escape."

"Thanks George, you can go." Katie smiled. She looked really beautiful standing there, the afternoon light hitting her sun-kissed skin sweetly…

_Focus Zech! _Zech shook his head, clearing the thought away.

"Are you guys ready for this?" Zech looked them in the eyes as they nodded. Together they brought the microphones to their mouths, taking a deep breath, and…

* * *

Canada gave a sigh as he sat in the World Meeting room. They were going to break for lunch soon, but lunch wasn't coming soon enough. Right now, France and England were sword fighting, Russia was hiding in the closet, Belarus clawing at the door, Italy was making pasta while Romano threw a tomato at Spain who was on his last nerve. Prussia was chugging down beer, proclaiming how awesome he was, while China directed a construction crew where to start making the town. Germany looked like he was about to crack.

"Japan," Canada turned to the personification next to him. "what do you think about global warming?" Canada asked him in a desperate attempt to get some work done.

"I agree with Ame-… I think we should do something about it or the global ice caps will melt." Japan quickly turned away.

America.

There were times when Canada could hardly remember his brother, where his laugh was so hard to recall. But other times, the memory was so strong that Canada would have to go to his room to hide his tears. Right now, America would probably be wolfing down burgers, yelling about being the hero and how they should make a giant super hero to stop global warming.

Canada was jerked out of his thoughts as the new serving woman walked in. She shook in fear of the scene around her. She would probably quit after today. Wasn't she five minutes early? No, Katie was just always five minutes late, that's right.

"EVERYBODY SIT DOWN AND PUT YOUR WEAPONS AWAY!" Germany yelled, causing the new girl to flinch. She quickly served all of the foods and scampered off. Literally. She looked like a frightened little animal fleeing from a fire. (Which is more or less true, but still…?)

The lunch was quick, and soon the now quiet nations were ready to continue on with the meeting. Clearing his throat, Canada stood up and began.

"Now that we're all settled, I think we should start talking about our econ-"

"_Oh, say can you see, by the dawns early light, what so proudly we hailed, at the twilights last gleaming?"_

Canada froze as the first few bars of the song met his ears. This… this was America's song! Where was it coming from?

_"Whose broad striped and bright stars, through the perilous fight, o'er the rampart we watched, were so gallantly gleaming."_

"Ve~, someone's singing outside!" Italy looked confused. "But who would sing America's song?"

_"And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof, through the night, that our flag was still there."_

Like a stampede, the nations ran out of the meeting room and outside to where the singing was coming from. As they got closer, it became obvious that it was multiple people singing, and they were singing loud.

_"Oh say does that Star - Spangled Banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave."_

The nations gawked at the sight around them. On all the buildings around the World Meeting building was graffiti, all of it something to do with America. The American flag. Red, white, and blue words. Maps of America. But the biggest art work was right in front of the building.

The graffiti showed Zech, Katie, and the Alfred kid holding the American flag, the words FREEDOM written beneath them.

In the streets around the building were about 70 teenagers, all singing the American anthem. In the front of the group were three kids, each holding a microphone connected to amplifiers.

The three kids were Katie, Alfred, and Zech, all three smiling.


	15. Chapter 14

Alfred stared at the nations in front of him, who were staring at the crowd around them. Taking another breath, Alfred put the mike back to his mouth and shouted into it.

"SCATTER!" The graffiti's and gave diggers all ran in different directions, some taking out their maps as they went and choosing one of the escape routes. Some of the countries ran after them, probably hoping to catch some of them. _Good luck with that. Half these kids are street-smart, while the other half could out run most of the countries any day. _Now, all those that remained were Zech, Alfred, Katie, Canada, and England. For a few seconds, the two groups stood there, analyzing each other, before Canada finally spoke up.

"So this is why you guys left, eh?"

"Yup!" Katie smiled. "We're going to bring America back!" Alfred saw both Canada and England flinch at his name.

"Are you idiots?!" England yelled at them. "All you're going to achieve is killing yourself!"

"Alfred, did you ever notice that England's eyebrows jump up and down a lot when he's angry?" Zech whispered into Alfred's ear.

"Hey, I can hear that!" England yelled.

"Dude, we know the cost of what we're doing, we're ready to die for this!" Alfred earnestly looked at his two brothers. "We want this with everything we want. We want out _freedom."_Alfred stared at the two familiar faces, wanting them to understand how much this meant.

"Well, you and your group ruined public property, eh." Canada spoke up. "Sorry, but we're going to have to bring you guys in."

"Not if you can't catch us!" Katie smiled and tapped Canada and England on the shoulders. "Tag, _you're it!" _The American Hero Trio then took off, running down back alleys, a cross roads, into stores, until they finally lost the two nations in one of the alleys. There, the trio stood, panting, silence filling the air… until Katie burst out laughing.

"Did you see their faces when I tagged them? They were all 'what the heck' and I was all 'losers'!" Katie let loose another laugh. Alfred felt laughter also bubble through his lips, and soon all three of them were cracking up. And then a fourth voice joined in.

"Kesesese, it was almost as awesome as me!" The three froze.

"P-prussia?" Zech turned uncertainly around to see the Prussian leaning against a wall. The three of them began to bolt again.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to catch you, I'm here to help." Prussia's word halted the teens.

"Be careful what you say next, _Preuβen, _I've already warned you once about messing with my son." Now it was Prussia's turn to freeze.

"You, you're that creepy girl from before!" Prussia pointed an accusing finger at Aiyana as she stepped out from some shadows.

"Mom, you've met Prussia?"

"A story for another say, honey. Now, what was it you were saying?" Aiyana sat on a box, crossed her legs, and rested her arms on her knees, looking at Prussia intently.

"Ah, yes, my awesome idea. You see, during the American Revolutionary war, when America first was rose, General Friedrich Steuben taught American soldiers how to organize camps, not to leave animal corpses around, how to use a bayonet correctly, the likes. The General was Prussia. Doesn't it seem right for another Prussian to help with the rising of a new America?"

"Omgosh that's is so awesome! Thank you so much!" Katie ran to hug Prussia, but he held up a hand.

"I do have one condition." Katie gave a pout. Prussia pointed to Alfred. "In exchange, I want five minutes alone to question Alfred, and during it he must swear to tell the awesome truth."

Alfred gave a smile. Prussia _was _part of the Awesome trio – or was it Awesome duo now? – of course he would figure it out.

"Deal." Alfred put out his hand and they shook before walking down an alley.

"Now that we're alone, tell me you full, real name." Prussia looked at him expectantly. Alfred gave an exaggerated sigh and started to take off his sun glasses and hat.

"You caught me, you caught me. My full name is, or was, the United States of America."

"Kesese, I knew it, wait what do you mean was?"

"Well, in case you didn't notice, _there is no America. _Currently, my full name is Alfred F. Jones."

"What does the awesome 'F' stand for?"

"Um, uh,.. frdm.."

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Freedom pleasedon'tlaugh."

" America, I'm not laughing, I think it's cool that's your name."

"Please, call me Alfred, America hurts too much." Alfred leaned against the wall. "They're amazing, Katie and Zech, I've known them for two or three weeks and they've already made me feel wanted, no, _needed _again, they've given America a name again." Alfred gave a carefree smile and looked upward before glancing at his watch. "Well, you've got 3 more minutes of interrogation, anything else you want to know?"

"How did you awesomely stay hidden so long? The whole world literally thought you were dead."

"That, is a long story. I'll probably won't get through all of it in this time, so sit down and-"

"I think I'll tell the first part." Aiyana stepped in smiling. Prussia looked at her suspiciously. "Don't worry, if you're friends with Alffie, you're friends with me. Now let's see, it all began 70 years ago…"

_Flash back_

_ Aiyana was ridding on a horse, not knowing where she was going or caring. Absently, she wiped her eyes on her hand as she went. America had officials dissolved a few hours ago. Her son had _died _a few hours ago. She hadn't really met him in years, and now she never would. She eventually came across an old cemetery and began to ride through it when she saw a bloody corpse on the ground. The body wore a jacket and it looked like the boy's hair would be red if it wasn't for the blood in it. It also looked like it had a cowlick and… it was America._

_ Aiyana jumped off her horse and put her head to her son's chest, getting blood on her face. He had a heart beat, but it was faint, nearly not existent. Carefully picking him up, she wrapped him in one of her blankets and rode off. She needed to find somewhere safe. Then she would need to stitch up those wounds…_

_ "Please be safe Alfred." Aiyana whispered._

_Flash back end_

"Wow that must have been so unawesome to see." Prussia gave a whistle.

"Yeah, it was. It took a while to recognize him without his glasses, though." Aiyana replied.

"What happened to your glasses?"

"They represented Texas. Without Texas, they disappeared." Alfred scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed. "I don't really get it, but I think that's how it goes. Now, to important matters before we gat back to my past." Alfred turned to Prussia. "You need a fake name."


	16. Chapter 15

When Zech and Katie finally heard Alfred returning, 10 minutes had passed, but when Alfred had returned, only Aiyana came with him.

"What happened to Prussia?" Katie went over and looked behind Alfred to make sure he wasn't there.

"He had to return to the meeting, you know, to finish it up. He told me to tell you guys to call him by a pseudo name. He doesn't want the others to know he's helping us, so from now on call him Gilbert Beilschmidt."

"Can I call him Bert?" Katie cocked her head to the side, thinking.

"Uh, no, I don't think so."

"What about Gilly?"

"No."

"Gil-gil?"

"Katie, just drop it." Zech scolded. "If anything, call him old man Beilschmidt, it'll probably make him angry."

_Maybe Grandpa Teutonic Knights would get to him, _Alfred thought offhandedly. _I wonder what the Nations are doing now? Probably freaking out about us. _Alfred gave a small smile.

"Come on guys, you can think about nicknames later. For now, let's head home."

The nations currently all sat in the World Meeting room. They had returned after chasing after the delinquents. In the end, only Spain returned with someone, and it was only because the kid wanted to make sure his friends weren't caught.

"What's your name?" Spain asked the kid who was handcuffed to the chair.

"Dylan."

"Why were you there?"

"To help restart America."

"What's your next move?"

"I don't know." Dylan gave a quiet appearance.

"One last question, then," Spain sighed. Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed out a red fruit. "Would you like a tomato?"

"Sure." With his free hand, Dylan grabbed the tomato and began to eat it. England sighed. Those kids had no idea what they were getting into, declaring war like that. But like all little kids, the best way to teach a kid is through action. But that one kid, Alfred… Canada had once said that he reminded him of America. And what he had said back there… was it possible that he was America? That America was still alive?

No .

There was no way. He shouldn't give him false hope. Not after that.

_(Flash back)_

_Canada read the note that America had left. England was frozen, his body numb, his brain trying to understand the information it was telling him. America had been trying to tell him that he was going to die? That was what was so important to go all the way to England?_

_ England felt horrid. He had turned America away, had been so horrible to him, in the last time he had ever talked to him. When Italy told them about the trail of blood, England immediately set out on it, leading the hunt. It was a long trail, the type of trail that most people would give up on after a while. But if it was possible that they would find America at the end of it, it would be worth it._

_ Yet all they found was a pool of blood, nothing more. No America, no body, not even his jacket or glasses. It was all gone. Nothing left but memories._

_(Flash back end)_

* * *

"Grandpa," Katie looked up at her grandpa, eyes wide. "What was my other Grandpa like?"

"I told you million times child," His word were slurred from the alcohol he had just drunk. "He was a foolish man who fought for a foolish land called America."

"Did my mommy and daddy like America?"

"No, they didn't care for the place, hated it, now hush up or his bottle goes through your head." The old man held up the glass bottle of liquer. The five-year old, clutching an old, ragged stuffed animal yelled and ran out of the room, the bottle crashing on the wall next to her. Katie ran into her room and shut the door, locking it before opening the window and climbing out onto the roof. From there, she climbed up to the widow's walk and went into the small room underneath it. In the room was a picture of her parents and of her other set of grandparents, all of them dead. There was a small bed in a corner and a refrigerator. Katie walked over to the picture of her parents and stared at it.

"Mommy, daddy, did you really hate America?" The picture did answer back. The young girl sighed and lay down on the bad, wincing at the sting in her arm. Last night she hadn't dodged the glass and got hit in the arm. She wished her mommy and daddy were still here, they had seemed like nice people. Why had they gone away? The 5-year old didn't understand what the two closed caskets meant, to her, her parents were still traveling. In late years, she would learn about the terrorist attack, the bomb that had landed on her parents, that their bodies had been nearly destroyed beyond recognition.

Katie woke with a start and looked around her furiously, looking for the picture of her parents, hoping that her grandpa was finally sober, before seeing Aiyana sleeping in the bad next to her, laid out and snoring loudly. Relaxing, Katie remembered where she was. This was a hotel they had found. The grave diggers, graffiti's, Alfred, Zech, Aiyana, and her had decided that this would be a good place to stay for now.

Falling back onto her cushions, she thought about her grandpa. She hadn't thought him in a long time, and just as she began to delve into it, she decided that she wasn't going to start now. Getting up, Katie reached into her bag and pulled out an old, worn book. It was the first ever copy of the book, and was signed by the author. This book was the source of her suspicions on Alfred. This book was her reason to join the rebellion, had given her the strength to leave her home at 16, to become what she was now. Without it, she would probably be a broken girl.

Katie read the first few pages, relishing them, before smiling at the cover. It was the first book in the series.

Caremia Falling.


	17. Chapter 16

Gilbert stood in front of 70 kids in the middle of nowhere, a shotgun in one hand and a pistol in the other. Carefully, he set up a target and then faced the many pairs of eyes on him.

"On Alfred's request, I'm going to teach you kids how to shoot a gun. How many of you have had the awesome chance to use a gun?" Prussia yelled to the kids. Katie, Zech, and Alfred's hands went up, along with one or two more, but the majority didn't seem to know how.

"This is going to be a long, unawesome day." Gilbert muttered to himself before raising his voice so the group could hear. "Today we'll be dealing with the shotgun. It will probably take most of the day for each of you to have the chance to use this awesome weapon, so once you're taught, you can leave.

"Now, then, you put the butt of the gun firmly in your armpit. If leave it loose, the kickback will end up bruising you. Then you need to take the safety off and keep your hand near the trigger while you aim. Do NOT put your finger onto the trigger until you are ready to shoot. When you aim you will also want to keep both eyes open. Once you have your target in the center of the cross, put your finger on the trigger and..." A crack came from the gun, causing some of the kids to clap their hands over the ears, glad that they had been given ear plugs. The bullet hit dead center.

"And that's how it's done. Now, who's first?"

Alfred was the first to shoot, expertly aiming the gun and also hitting the bull's eyes… which made the next person extremely cocky.

The boy went up with a smirk on his face, quickly picking up the gun and holding it at arm's length before shooting. The bullet didn't even hit the target. The gun recoiled from the shot and rammed into the boy's arm. The kid gave a cry of pain and dropped the gun, clutching the forming bruise. Gilbert just sighed and walked over, picking up the gun.

"That was extremely unawesome. I hope that showed the rest of you that this is not as easy as we make it seem." The Prussia handed the gun to another kid. "You're next, good luck."

Zech was the 23rd person to shoot.

"Bet'cha I can shoot better than you." Zech nudged Katie.

"You're on, what's the stakes?

"Hm, let's see; if I win you have to… kiss Alfred!" Zech said triumphantly.

"Then on the same rule, if I win, you have to kiss _me!" _Katie smirked at the look on Zech's face.

"Deal." They shook hands. Zech hefted the gun and brought it to his eyes, shooting it. It landed in between the bull's eye and the ring around it. "See if you can top that." Zech started to hand the gun to Katie.

"Oh no, not now Utahan boy. I'm going to go last." And Katie stayed true to her word. Number 70 was Katie Weiber. Most of the graffiti's and grave diggers had hung around to watch and see who would win the bet. Katie confidently grabbed the gun from the 69th contestant and aimed for a painfully long time. Alfred was standing in a corner, devastated that he had been roped into this bet. Did anyone ever ask if _he _wanted to kiss Katie? _No! _They just went on their merry way placing bets that involved him!

Finally, the trigger was pulled, a crack rang through the air, and the bullet hit the target. Gilbert walked in front of the target and checked for the new bullet mark. (Luckily, there were very few marks in the target.)

"We have an awesome Bull's Eye!" Money was traded between the majorities of the bystanders. Katie smiled as she walked over to Zech, who looked somewhere between a caged animal and dying dog.

"Well, I haven't done this in a while." Katie grabbed the collar of Zech's shirt, dragged him close, and gave him a kiss full on the lips.

* * *

When Zech heard the bet Katie placed, he found that part of him was elated! The other part of him was more scared than Canada when Katie had to inform him one time that they ran out of maple syrup and pancake batter. They hadn't kissed since… the incident. Did this mean that Katie wanted to make up with him? Or was she just teasing him that she would never let him out of friend-zone ever again? He pushed the thought to the back of his head as Katie declared that she wouldn't shoot until the last recruit had.

And then she hit the bull's eye and walked straight up to him, pulled him in close, and kissed him with that beautiful mouth of hers.

Zech wished the incident had never happened.

_(Flash back)_

_ Zech and Katie were in a book store. They had been officially boyfriend and girlfriend for two months now, and they both agreed that it was working out beautifully. Currently Zech was sitting down reading a book he had just bought while Katie browsed the books for a book of her own. She was constantly saying that she wanted to have a huge library in her house when she grew up and that she hated seeing books without a home._

_ "Grrrr, this is so stupid!" A girl sitting next to Zech growled angrily at her homework._

_ "What's so hard?" Zech put down his book._

_ "None of this makes sense!" The girl gestured angrily at her math. She had deep brown eyes and light, honey-blonde hair._

_ "Really? Because this makes perfect sense to me." Zech looked at her paper._

_ "C-could you help me with it?" The girl looked into his eyes, giving a puppy-dog face._

_ "Sure, I guess."_

_ "Okay," the girl grabbed his hand. "This is my address. Come over at four."_

_ Zech looked at his hand. Along with the address was a name: Amber Bess._

* * *

_"So does that all make sense for you now?" Zech was walking with Amber back to his apartment, opening the door and stepping in._

_ "Yeah thanks, you made it so much easier. You know, maybe you should come over another."_

_ "If you have any trouble with any more school work, sure." Amber stood with her back to the door way and Zech was in front of her, so he couldn't see Katie started to walk over. All he saw was Amber look over his shoulder, give a slightly evil grin, and then kiss him before swiftly leaving. He heard something clatter behind him. Turning, he saw Katie staring at him with wide, horrified eyes, shaking her head slightly. On the floor at her feet was her new book._

_ "No, no, you didn't, you wouldn't," Katie started shaking her head harder, tears forming in her eyes. _

_ "Katie, you don't-"_

_ "I-I thought, thought we, and you, and, and," Katie shook her head hard, tears running freely down her cheeks before she picked up her book and ran into her room and locked the door._

_ Katie's sobs could be heard for days._

**A/N: Sorry for all the flashbacks, I hope you don't mind them.**

**Also, I playing it by ear right now, so updates will probably be pretty slow.**


	18. Chapter 17

_(Time skip: one month)_

_In this month, the revolution has gotten a lot more publicity and their group of 70 has grown to a group of 300 and still growing. Prussia has had to teach the majority how to shoot along with battle strategies and the ins and outs of war._

Alfred looked around him, at the 300 or so people holding guns, at Gilbert checking the rows to make sure they were holding the gun correctly, Katie and Zech standing next to him, and at his own mom Aiyana holding her bow, Yaponcha **(A/N: Yaponcha came in my omake/one-shot Happy Mother's Day Aiyana!) **standing next to her. Stepping in front of the group, Alfred raised his voice.

"This is it everyone. If you want to turn back, do so now. I have to warn you, you may not make it out of this. You will get injured, your friends will fall, and you won't come out the same." Some people fidgeted nervously. "But it will NOT be in vain. We WILL have America, we WILL win, and we are going to start tonight. The Mexicans have declared was, and we are going to meet them with an army!" Cheers roared through the crowd as the army ran into the battle field.

* * *

Canada walked into the meeting room, unsure why he was there. England had called earlier. Something about a war meeting… but Canada wasn't at war right now; as a matter of fact they were in a very peaceful era right. Pushing open the door, he was greeted by Russia, Spain, England and Japan.

"What's this about, eh?" Canada took a seat between England and Russia.

"This is a war council. We're here to discuss the uprising." Japan answered.

"But none of us are at war right now, and the revolution is only in Mexico." Canada cocked his head to the side, Kumojiruo mirroring him. England gave a sigh.

"The fact is there is a slim possibility that they will win this war." England explained. "If they win this, they'll not only move onto Utah, but they will also gain more soldiers. Mexico will also have tasted their power and may end up just giving up Utah if they think more war isn't worth it. After that, the revolution moves onto one of us." And then it clicked.

"But, what's so bad about America returning, eh?" Canada would be overjoyed to have his twin back. Spain looked at him sadly.

"He's not coming back, just the name. America is dead and no one has seen another personification." Spain put a hand on Canada's shoulder comfortingly.

"I know I just wished he was still here… what's the plan?" Canada looked down sadly. He had accepted America's fate years ago, but sometimes it was still hard to carry on. Without America, Canada finally felt the pressure of being the second largest country. Now it hit him that America probably shielded him before. He had lost the majority of his invisibility with the death of America.

"The plan is for you to spy on the Revolution as they fight and find their weaknesses." England explained.

"Me?! Why me?" Canada protested.

"You can be near invisible, da?" Russia's creepy aura filled the air.

"Um, yeah, but I haven't done it or tried it for years." England smiled at him.

"I'm sure you can do it. Meeting dismissed." Everyone departed ways. Canada watched England walk away. There was something off about him today…

* * *

England wiped a few stray tears from his eyes as he sat outside, looking at beautiful garden behind the world meeting building. He still remembered when America had first built the building and had put the garden in. He had been so excited to watch the vegetation grow throughout the years.

"England, are you okay?" England turned around and saw…

"A-America?!" The boy behind him gave a small laugh and sat down next to him.

"You haven't called me that in a long time England, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Even Kumojiruo remembers me. Kind of makes me want to be forgotten again. No, I'm Canada."

"Oh, sorry Canada."

"England, are you okay?" England gave a sad smile before looking up into the night sky. The flowers in the garden were all bright colors, seemingly glowing in the moonlight.

"Saw right through me, did you? Should have figured you would. To be honest, I'm scared. I'm scared that the 13 colonies will liberate themselves again. I had to go through this once before, I don't want it to happen again. I don't think I could bear it." Canada put an arm around England comfortably.

"Don't worry, it won't happen again. They're just a small group of people, what's the worst they could do?" England chuckled.

"You know what, I though the same thing about that bloody wanker when I first heard he was going to rebel."

* * *

"Why did I agree to do this?" Canada grumbled to himself. He usually wasn't this easily aggravated, but it was so windy and he was sitting in a tree, which kept rocking dangerously. Kumojiruo clung to a branch, grumbling under his breath.

"Come on, focus, you have a job to do." Canada turned his attention back to the Revolution ranks below him. There was something strange going on down there. The land between the Revolutions soldiers and the Mexican soldiers was strangely windy, more so than anywhere else, and there seemed to be no fatalities on the Revolutionaries yet. Leaning down a bit, Canada saw there was a clump of wind weaved through the empty space that only bullets ran through and almost seemed visible. As a matter of fact, the longer he looked the more shape it took until he was looking at a misty wolf running, controlling the winds.

"A spirit." Canada spoke softly as he watched the magnificent creature run around the battle field, winds changing the directions of the bullets so they missed their mark just enough to not be fatal. The wolf eventually slowed down and stopped, panting, in front of a woman firing arrows instead of bullets.

"Aiyana, I'm sorry I'm as strong as I used to be, but I can't keep the winds up for much longer." The spirit talked to Native America woman, which was more surprising than seeing the spirit. Most spirits refused to talk to anybody, Native American, nation, or normal human (of course, all of them usually couldn't see them anyway.)

"That's okay Yaponcha, you've done great so far, and the Rebellion should feel the sting of death and war if we want them to be strong. You can go and rest."

"Thank you Aiyana." The spirit, Yaponcha, bowed to the woman and then turned to the boy next to her. By the look of it, it was that Alfred guy, and bowed to him too. "I promise to help again as soon as I find my strength again."

"Its fine Yaponcha, take all the time you need." Alfred ruffled Yaponcha's head before aiming his gun at the enemy. Yaponcha took off in a burst of wind, the air of the battle field becoming considerably less windy.

Canada let this new information sink in before drawing his pistol. He should stop this before it gets too big, and the best way to do that was to take out the leaders of the group. Slowly, he aimed his gun at the boy in front of him.

**A/N: Brownie: WAIT! CANADA! THAT'S YOUR BROTHER! DON'T SHOOT!**

**Fox: Calm down Brownie, wait until the next update. And for your readers out there, more reviews = faster updates.**


	19. Chapter 18

Alfred watched Yaponcha run off before aiming his gun at the enemy once again. A small prickling sensation along his spine seemed to warn him about something, like someone was watching him… of course someone was watching him, the Mexicans were no doubt looking at him, one of the leaders, and trying to shoot him. Alfred shrugged the feeling off.

Then several things happened at once.

An eagle's screech filled the air, somebody above him swore, and a bullet just grazed his cheek, leaving a thin red trail. The tree behind him shook violently before a boy toppled out, holding a pistol, and trying to shoo away an eagle that was trying to grab the gun out of the boy's hand.

"C-Canada?" The boy on the ground looked up at him before dropping the pistol and running, not wanting to confront him. All Alfred could do was stare. Canada, his own twin, had been trying to kill him? Had been about to assassinate him?

"Why?" Alfred whispered softly, watching the nation get smaller as he ran farther away. The eagle flew over and landed on his head, pecking his head softly. Alfred reached up and petted the young eagle. "Hey Clark, thanks for saving me."

"Honey, are you okay?" Aiyana got up from where she had been crouched and hugged Alfred.

"I- I just never thought that Canada would try to assassinate me, at least that's what it looked like he was doing. I mean, I know that all nations are trained to be assassins, but I never thought…"

"He just didn't know it was you. I'm sure if he knew you were America, he would give up the land. Why don't you just come out and tell them you're still alive anyway?"

"For two reasons. One, if they just give up the land, it will look suspicious and none of the people will think of themselves as Americans, really. Two, I just can't face them yet. I could hardly face _Prussia, _how in this messed up world would I face Canada, France, and England? I just need some time to get used to being a nation again, to feel more myself." Alfred touched the back of his head. "Not only that, but some nations wouldn't hesitate to kill me if they found out I was alive. If Clark hadn't stopped Canada, I don't know if I would've lived though that bullet.

Clark nipped at Alfred's hand affectionately.

"I'm sorry I left you home Clark. Tell ya what, you can be my official guard and protect me from assassins. How would you like that?" Clark gave another screech before flying off, probably to go after mouse.

* * *

"What was I thinking this isn't my war what would I have gained from that oh my gosh what did I almost do!" Canada ran in circles as he ranted about what he almost did.

"Well, this is a war Canada. It's not like the boy is expecting to live anyway. Killing him would have done us all a world of good anyway." England sipped his tea as he talked.

"But it's not MY war!"

"And it will be if this keeps up!" England shot back at him, setting his tea down. "Why didn't you stay to finish the job? Is there something special about him?"

"He, um, i-it's nothing." Canada turned away.

"Canada, what. Is. It?" England grabbed Canada's shoulder and stared him in the eyes, which seemed to be trying to bore into his soul. Not a very comfortable feeling.

"Okay okay, fine you win. We I fell to the ground and looked up at Alfred, I saw under his glasses… his eyes are blue. The same blue that America's." Canada's head snapped to the side. It took him a minute to register that England had slapped him. "What was that for?!"

"Canada, you need to stop thinking about him! America. Is. Dead! I know you don't want it, and I don't want it, but he is!" A tear traced down England's cheek as he spoke. "I had to face it by now, why don't you?" The last words came out as a whisper. England abruptly whirled around and began towards the door. "Well it you aren't going to do anything about those 3 'leaders', then I. Am."

* * *

Zech was having a dream, and it was a good one too. He was 3 years old, and running around a park. On a bench nearby, a red headed man sat with a blonde woman. Something told him they were his mom and dad. Next to his parents sat a man with brown hair and a woman with black hair. They were talking about something, but Zech didn't know what. After all, in his dream, he was a 3 year old, with the mind of a 3 year old.

At the top of the play ground stood a girl with long black hair. She stood there, looking out at the trees. She was cute. Zech had seen her before, and he kind of like-liked her, but she was so shy and hard to get near. _I should try to impress her, _Zech thought. With a burst of speed, he ran up the slide. Yeah, that ought to get her attention.

When he reached the top, the girl was up there, looking down at him. _Come on, say something!_

"I'm here princess! Where's the dragon?" Perfect pick up line. The girl gave a small giggle.

"It's over there." The cute girl pointed to the plastic bridge. "He hides under it. Could you help me cross ?" Zech grabbed her hand.

"Of course, princess!" for the next hour, the two ran around the playground, slaying dragons, riding unicorns, playing with flying bunnies. When it was time for them to go, Zech even got to kiss the princesses hand!

"Don't worry, you'll get to see her again." His dad said as he held Zech's hand. His mom grabbed his other and they walked off, a happy family.

Then, to ruin the dream, Zech felt something telling him to move. _Shut up, this is a great dream! _But the feeling didn't leave. Reluctanty, Zech drowsily moved his head.

Just as something pierced his cheek deeply.

Yeah, he was awake now.

**A/N: DON'T KILL ME! I'm SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG!**


	20. Chapter 19

Zech's eyes shot open and reached for his cheek, flopping off his bed as he did so. A man stood above , the ninja-like-guys hand was a dagger, blood dripping from the blade, _his _blood.

_OMGOSH there's a ninja in my room! _Was his first thought, which then turned to, _wait, why's a ninja here and not in Japan? Why would a ninja have to be in Japan anyway? Dude, focus, this guy is trying to kill you! _Zech weighed his options. On one hand, he could try to take on the ninja alone, possibly dying heroically in the process. _*Cue sparkles and heroic scene* _Or he could scream like a girl and get help while scrambling away from whatever weapons the guy had.

Plan two it was.

Allowing a terrified scream to rip his throat, Zech quickly dodged a knife that was headed for him. The knife gave a sickening thunk into the wall behind him. _That could have been me, THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ME! _From there, instincts kind of kicked in. Reaching onto his bed-side table, Zech grabbed a gun he kept on it, cocked it… and then threw it. The gun smacked Ninja – newly named Bob in Zech's head – in one of his purple eyes, causing Bob to stumble backwards, clutching it. Getting up, Zech ran over to Bob and kicked him in the stomach. Bob grabbed his leg and used it to slam him into the floor. By now, the cut on Zech's face was bleeding profusely, scattering drops of blood everywhere.

The window shattered open, revealing yet another ninja. Like the other, the only part you could see of was the hair, which was also blonde, and the eyes, which were a forest green. Above the eyes were two caterpillar eyebrows. Bob and the new guy, Fred, looked at each other. While they were preoccupied, two bullets shot through the door and hit them both in the arm. The door was then kicked open by somebody shrouded in shadows.

Bob, Fred, and Zech stared at the door for a second before Zech broke out of the sudden, dampening silence. Grabbing his gun off the floor, Zech aimed at shot at Fred, who still sat on the window sill. The bullet hit him in the stomach. Fred lost his balance at toppled backwards, out the window. Bob looked at them, saw the two guns pointed at him, and then jumped out the window.

"Yeah, you better run!" Zech called after the fleeing figure that was jumping from roof to roof. On the ground, they could see another figure running. Alfred shot a bullet as a warning and the two ninja's moved faster.

"Haha, look at them run!" Alfred laughed, grinning like an idiot. Stepping back, he rolled his shoulders. "Man, I haven't felt an adrenaline rush like that in ages, where you just have the urge to kill someone! You know what I mean?"

"Um, no, can't say I do. Anyway, I still have this deep cut on my cheek. Do we have anyone in the base that can fix it?" Alfred looked thoughtful for a second.

"I know someone who mentioned she could do so. Come on!" Alfred grabbed Zech hand and rushed out the door.

"Katie, wake up!" Alfred pounded on the door to Katie's room. After a few minutes, Katie opened her door. Her eyes were sleepy, and tired, and above her head where her hair usually sat was a rat's nest.

"What is it? I was sleeping!" Alfred pointed to Zech's face.

"Zech got attacked by ninja's and we need you to fix his face."

"Well, don't be blunt about it. Come on, let's get into the bathroom." Katie led them into the bathroom part of her room.

"Why is your room so much bigger than mine?" Zech looked around.

"Because I'm a _girl, _that's why." Answer to the questions of the world. "Now sit on this stool so I can look at the damage." Zech obliged and sat down while Katie knelt down and inspected the cut, running a finger under it, a bit of red smearing her finger,

"It's cut pretty deep. I'm going to have to sew the two pieces of skin together…" Katie trailed off for a second before raising her voice. "Would you like a towel or a stick?"

"Um, a towel, I guess. What's it for?" Katie grabbed a towel and handed it to Zech.

"You'll see. Now put it in your mouth." Zech did so. Katie then got up and grabbed two things from a cupboard before kneeling back at his side just out for his view.

"I still don't know what the towAHHHHH!" Zech began but stopped when pain shot through his cheek. Immediately, he screamed and then bit down on the cloth in his mouth.

"And that is what the towel is for. Didn't you hear me just say that I'm going to sew the skin together? Now hold still or I might mess up."

* * *

England ran down the street. What a horrible assassination attempt. Having to run away so suddenly, and there had already been someone there trying to kill that kid Zech! He had done so much better before. As England finally slowed to a walk in an alley, clutching where he had been shot. That guy Alfred was a good shot.

England was pushed forward by a sudden pressure on his beck, causing him to fall forward. Cold metal pressed against the back of his throat. A knife sharp enough that it was already cutting him by the slight pressure the owner was giving.

"Who are you and why were you breaking into Zech's room?" The voice was familiar.

"Canada, is that you?" The blade lifted from his neck.

"England?" The man now identified as Canada got off his back and reached down his hand to help up the Briton. "What were you doing there?"

those three leaders."

"Just that Alfred guy, so I went to try and show you that I'm not afraid to kill people. I _have _had my share of death counts." Canada leaned against the wall before wincing at the slight pain in his arm. "We should probably go and get these bullets out for our arms before the skin heals over it. Come on."

* * *

The next morning, while Alfred was heading to the battle field, he was stopped by a certain Prussia.

"Alfred, the awesome me has been extremely helpful. Now keep your side of our awesome bargain." Gilbert demanded.

"You mean the part about telling you what happened the last 70 years? I don't know… I really need to get to the battle field, but I guess if I'm really quick… fine, grab a seat." Gilbert looked around and, finding no chair, sat on the ground. Alfred followed suit. "So, first I guess it starts with me waking up."

**_Flash Back Start_**

_ The first thing America noticed was that he was awake. He never thought that would happen again. Opening his eyes, America saw that he was in a cave of sorts. At the front of the cave sat a woman cooking what looked like a rabbit. She looked about 25 or 20 years old with black hair, dark skin, and brown eyes. _

_ "Excuses me, but could you tell me where I am?" America flinched slightly at the pain of talking, but didn't stop. The woman looked up at him. There was something familiar about him, but he couldn't place it, especially with the headache that was quickly forming. The woman gave a small,, sad smile, before answering with a sweet voice, as if talking to loud might make him disappear, which America didn't doubt that could happen._

_ "It's good to see you're awake. You've been asleep for a week. We're currently in an unknown cave in Colorado. Would you like the rabbit leg?" America tried to reach for it, but his arms could hardly move._

_ "I'm sorry, miss, but I can't seem to move anything but my head."_

_ "That's okay, I'll just feed you."_

_"No thank you, I don't want to be bab-" America was cut off when the woman shoved the rabbit leg into his mouth._

_ "No no no, you need to eat. Starving yourself won't solve your problems America." America struggled to eat the meat in his mouth and not choke on it._

_ "What? How do you know my name? And that I'm America? _Who _are you?" The woman gave him a sad smile._

_ "That's for me to know and for you to find out. You used to know, I'm sure you'll remember sometime. For now, just know I'm a Native American. You can call me Aiyana."_

**_Flash Back End_**

**A/N: I know what you are probably thinking. "Why another flashback?" But I just really wanted to do this.**


	21. Chapter 20

_Time Skip (3 months)_

_In these three months, Zech's cut has mostly healed but has now scared. There had been at least 50 recorded deaths and counting, yet more recruits continued to come in. the Mexicans had been unprepared for them, and so far things were looking up._

_Right now, we take back up with Aiyana in the tree that Canada had been in and Alfred, Zech, and Katie shooting from beneath her, Yaponcha started his winds with Clark flying above, looking out for spies. So far, Clark had found a total of 20 spies that had tried to sneak in._

* * *

"So, how much longer do you think this will last?" Katie let loose another bullet, quickly reloading.

"Don't know, maybe another day, maybe another month, it's hard to tell with wars like these." Alfred responded.

"You speak as if from experience." Katie gave Alfred a sideways look full of suspicion. "Yet if you don't count this war, the world has been fairly peaceful."

"Um, it's just an assumption, and, uh-" Before Alfred could finish his sentence, he was hit with another headache, the ground shaking beneath him. He hadn't had one of these for months, but he had been expecting on to come on for a while. As usual, the world disappeared into a black haze. When he came to, he found himself being carried by someone like a sack of potatoes. Pushing away from the person, he fell to the ground before looking up and seeing Zech, Katie standing next to him.

"I see you're seizure is done." Zech replied, absentmindedly running his finger along his scar, a habit he had picked up. "Now that you can walk, go to the barracks, you're in no condition to fight."

"WHAT?! I'm in perfect condition!" Alfred got back to his feet. "Why would you think that I ca-" Alfred was stopped when what had been his breakfast came back up. "Okay, which way to the barracks." Katie guided him to the barracks (which was more like a random house) before heading back to the front lines.

Alfred laid on the bed for hours, looking up at the ceiling, the feeling from the earlier still there. He felt so useless. He should be able to do something; he was going to be this places bloody representation! Who did those gits think they were, telling him what to do! And now look at him, his British side was showing!

And then, he something in him shook.

The strangest feeling came over him in a flood, images rushing past his vision. Men and women fighting on the battle field, some dying, other injured, each painful hit ringing through his being. Gunshots split crackled through the air, gunpowder hanging in the heavy atmosphere. The images then slowed down to show Zech and Katie standing side by side, holding the American flag, allowing bullets to rip thorough them. The image was overlapped by a recent memory. Zech and Katie were talking to the leader of the Mexican military.

"You and your group is extremely resilient. I must say I am surprised. So, how about a deal? If you can stay standing in the middle of the battle field for an hour while my men fire at you, then we will give up Texas."

"What? No wa-" Zech started, but Katie put her arm around his shoulder and slowly began to squeeze down on his throat, smiling happily. Momentary creepy Russia resemblance.

"You will give us a minute to think, it's such a big and sudden decision to make." Still choking him, Katie dragged him away until they were a few feet away. Katie then released Zech and began to whisper frantically.

"Zech, think, if we don't take this offer, then we will have so much more fighting to do! Our men will never want to see a gun again or even here the word war once we have all of America. If we can shorten it, even if just a little…" Katie's voice trailed off.

"Katie, we will literally be sitting ducks out there! How can we-"

"Have you heard of Stone Wall Jackson?" Katie broke in.

"Who?'

"He was a Confederate General during the American civil war. He was known because he stood like a stone wall while enemy fire went around him. I'm not saying we'll be unscathed, but we have to live up to the American name, even if it came from the Confederate side of the war." Katie grabbed his hand. "Please Zech, for me." Zech looked into her eyes and blushed before pulling away and walking back to the sidelines. Katie gave a sad sigh and was beginning to turn when Zech walked back, the American flag in his hand.

"We can't do it without this." Zech smiled and hooked his arm in Katie's before they both walked back to the Mexican general.

Alfred's sight returned to the room around him. His hand was clutching over his heart and he was blinking rapidly. Alfred looked around the room, chest heaving, and realized that the world was all a blur. How strange, it hadn't been a blur since, since… since he had needed Texas.

Alfred's hand shot out and began pat his side table. Sure enough, his hands found a pair of glasses sitting innocently, gleaming slightly in the lamp light. If the world was perfect (which it wasn't) there would be a spot light on it.

"Texas, you're back!" Alfred picked up the glasses and placed them over his eyes, relishing the clarity and the rims on the edge of his vision. "Of course, you'll have to be sunglasses though." Alfred took them off for a second and ran his fingers along the frames, slowly changing the design. When he was satisfies, Alfred placed them back on and fell backward onto his bed, smiling happily… That is, until he thought about the other parts of the American Hero Trio. Concentrating, Alfred traveled his land in search of them. (Pain free even!)

He found them in a hospital, their bed next to each other. They were being waited fervently over by nurses and doctors.

"Hey, doc, how many bullets have you found?" Katie looked up groggily at the doctor.

"Honey, I'm sorry to tell you this, but you have 10 and counting." The doctor gave Katie a sorrowful look. Katie in turn pumped her fist into the air, which nurses then pushed back down.

"Eat that Zech! Let's see you beat that!" Zech turned to his doctor and asked the same question, who replied with 12.

"Excuses, what is that I hear? Is that, the sound of the loser?"

"Hey, it's not over yet! Anyways, it's only because you kept shielding me." Zech and Katie continued like this, painkillers making them a little loopy and numb to the pain. Alfred couldn't help but smile to himself. Americans were really amazing people.


	22. Chapter 21

Alfred stood in a line of six other people, two of which were Katie and Zech, still sore from all the bullet wounds. Yet both of them had insisted they were well enough to do this. Aiyana was there too, for once putting down her arrows and picking up the gun. Surrounded by a group, they stood in a graveyard, each of the seven people waiting for the order, and when it came, performed the 21 gun salute*. Tears streaked down - many faces in the crowd, but none came down more than Alfred- no, America's, seeing all the caskets with _his _soldier, _his _people.

When the salute finished, Aiyana walked over and hugged him as he sobbed into her shoulder.

"It's okay, shh, I know, I know, you're going to be okay." Aiyana and Alfred stood there for a second, Alfred crying onto her shoulder, Katie and Zech watching from a distance and supporting themselves with their guns. Alfred eventually gathered himself and whipped his eyes. They had a council meeting with the New World group (The Counties that took over parts of what used to be America) that they had been asked to attend. It was fairly obvious that it was going to be about bargaining and that type of stuff, but they would have to go and make sure they didn't get fooled into agreeing not to get part of what had been America.

Zech, Katie, Alfred, and Aiyana sat on one side of the room while Canada, Spain, England, Russia, Japan, and their leaders sat on the other side, along with the Mexican leader. Aiyana was currently glaring daggers at England and successfully making him uncomfortable. There was much attempts at negotiating from both sides, but the other side always turned them down.

**(Four hours later after what would have been very thrilling politics)**

As the two groups began to disperse, England walked over to Aiyana.

"Excuse me, miss, but have we met before? You look very familiar." Aiyana stiffened, and then relaxed, giving a sickly-sweet smile that seemed like honey that had a tasteless poison in it.

"I think I would have remembered someone with a habit of putting caterpillars where their eyebrows should be." Aiyana walked closer to the now angry Briton. "But while you're here, there's something I should tell you. No matter what it takes, no matter what strings I have to pull, your 13 colonies will be the last ones to go." Aiyana's face was centimeters from England's. "That way, we will have the maximum amount of power, and we'll destroy you before you know what hit you. You will be bleeding on the ground, and I will be standing over you, laughing at your pain. I. Can't. Wait."

"Mom! What- why- just- come on, let's go." Alfred pulled Aiyana's arm.

"Just keep that in mind, _British Empire." _Aiyana finally allowed herself to be pulled away, leaving England with a priceless expression on his face.

"Mom, why do you like to do that to people?" Alfred ran his hand through his hair.

"Because it's fun. Does there have to be a better reason?"

"No, but I wish you could lay off it when your around the nations. They're currently more powerful than both you and me combined."

"And yet you are already bigger than some of them." Alfred smirked at that. Yes, Texas was a good idea to take first.

"Mom, what do you have against England anyways?" Alfred looked over at his mom, whose face was now expressionless. Looking around, she found a random room and darted into, pulling her son with her.

"You're probably too young back then to remember this. Have a seat, this isn't something I want overheard. But, since you're already here, I guess you can have a seat too, Prussia." Prussia peeked out from behind the door.

"How did you know I was there? Was it because I was radiating awesomeness?" Prussia took a seat next to America.

"No, I heard you talking to Gilbird. Now, back to me. This takes place back when England first landed on my shores…"

_Flash Back_

_Native smiled to herself as she saw the east shore of her land insight. Currently, she was going to visit some of these eastern tribes, see how things were holding up first had and not just by spirit travel (traveling her nation). After all, she was famous amongst them as not only having a never-aging body, but being the only woman able to live on her own. Of course, just recently, there had been a new addition to her group. _

_Stopping to set up camp near the ocean, Native took her supplies off her back, along with the little pale boy she had found on the plains ten or so years ago. Since he hadn't aged since the day she found him, Native could only assume that he was to be the next personification, and she wanted to raise him to have a love for her Americans._

_"America, wake up." Native's sing-song voice gently woke the sleeping blonde, who looked up with those strange, blue eyes that seemed to be fragments of the sky itself. The baby leaned in and hugged her arm. Native giggled and ruffled his hair, making it match that one hair that refused to go down. "Mommy finally made it to the other side of the land."_

_"Mommy!" America happily said and squeezed her arm. A small earthquake shook the ground, and the ground rose into 5 human figures. The earth crumbled and revealed five men, each with a different animal head. There was a wolf, eagle, fox, rabbit, and an owl, each with their own meanings. The wolf was the teacher, guide, and pathfinder. The fox was clever, alert, and adaptable. The eagle symbolized power, courage, and connection to the spirit. Rabbit was fear, future, and abundance, and finally owl was sight, darkness and enlightenment. Together, they made a totem pole._

_"Ah, Yaponcha, I see you brought you brought your friends to teach little America his skills." Native smiled up at the wind spirit._

_"It is good to see you made it here safely. If you wouldn't mind, we're going to take the next immortal human for his lessons." Yaponcha stooped down and allowed America to run into his arms._

_"Of course, just bring him back by midnight." Native called after the totem pole, smiling at America as he pulled on Yaponcha's ears, whose efforts of stopping him was futile. And for the moment, everything was perfect. No tribes were currently at war (though that wouldn't last long), and America was coming along great. But like everything, life can only seem perfect for so long. And that giant boat heading for her land looked to be the cause._

_Native had spent a good amount of time watching the white men as they explored her world, some marveled by it, some disgusted, and one man was completely unreadable. That particular had the same aura as her and America._

_That was NOT a good sign._

_Late that night, before America came back, Native confronted the man. The man with the giant eyebrows and green eyes was exploring later than his comrades, a very strange, long stick in his hand. Native jumped down from the tree she sat in and cleared her throat, making the man whip around, pointing his stick at her._

_"Stop, of I'll shoot you full of holes!" Native listening to his strange talk for a moment before using her power of languages. Having many tribes and languages, she found that she could learn most any language that touched her land._

_"That sounds like a threat. How fitting, since I came here to say my own. Get off my land, or you will not live to see how your people live while fitting against my people." _

_"Please, you and your people are nothing but savages. And you, being just a woman, there's not much you can do. I think I'll stay here." Native's eyebrow twitched._ Just _a woman? Native America didn't have much of a temper with strangers, and what she had was washed away by the tide of anger which flowed through her, making her mind blank from any thought but to kill the man in front of her. She lunged, and the man's stick, still pointed at her, let loose a loud noise, and something pierced her stomach. The sudden, unexpected pain, caused Native to fall to the ground. The man above her kicked her new would before standing on top of her._

_"You'll do well to remember not to mess with the British Empire, that is, if you lived to see me again, which you won't." The man then carried about, breaking various bones, an evil smile on his face. When he thought she was dead, he kicked her into the bushes, just as some rustled on the opposite side, revealing little America, confusion on his face as he looked for his mom._

_"Mommy?" America looked around before looking up at the man, whose attitude was completely different. British Empire bent down, smiling._

_"I'm sorry, you must have been on my ship. I don't know how I didn't notice, but I'll make sure to take care of you from now on." British Empire picked up _her _son and walked away. She could do nothing but watch, pain ripping thorough her body and soul. It would take months for her body to rejuvenate, and by then, her little immortal would be no longer hers._

_Flash Back End_

**A/N: Okay, the next chapter will take a LONG time because I'm going on a vacation, so, yeah… Please review!**


	23. Chapter 22

"Okay, I was thinking about deploying troops to Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado while we three and some other troops move out to Utah, you know, try and get four states at once." Zech pointed to a map as he spoke, Katie, Alfred, Aiyana, and some of their best men around them./

"Why are we going to Utah?" Aiyana asked Zech quizzically.

"It's because Zech is obsessed with the place." Katie smiled. "And if we don't go there, Zech's poor, fragile, girly heart will shatter!"

"You shut up! Just because you never knew where you wanted to go means that I can't!"

"Hey, not fair, you know I was running just to get away! I had no idea where I was going! And you never made it to Utah anyway!" Katie shot back.

"Hey, what are you guys even talking about now?" Alfred looked at them, confusion on his face. Zech gave a sigh.

"It's nothing, just a slice of our past. We'll tell you sometime. The point is, we're going to Utah because if I don't then I'm pretty sure my head will explode." Zech crossed his arms, showing that his mind was made up.

"Fine, Utah it is. You didn't have to bite off my head about it." Alfred threw his arms up in the air.

_Time skip a few days_

_Next set of wars have begun in the four corners. The American Hero Trio and Aiyana are in Utah and are taking a quick break in the barracks._

"Excuse me, Mr. Laitas, there's some people here to see you." A man walked in, looking at Zech.

"Please, call me Zech. Why are they here?"

"Because we're your family." A woman and a man walked into the room. The woman's hair was a flaming orange and her eyes were a kind emerald. Walking up to Zech, she grabbed his head and inspected it before engulfing him in a hug.

"W-what?!" Zech pulled back and stared at the woman. "Wait, I remember you from one of the times that I was exploring my history. Aren't you my aunt Thalia?"

"Yes, yes I am!" The woman was crying, a grin on her face. "We all thought that you died with your parents, when the bomb hit! Why didn't you come and find us?"

"I didn't know until a year ago, and I was in England at the time. And I didn't think that you guys would want me if you didn't come and get me years ago."

"No, it's not like that, that whole case was so complicated. We would have adopted you right off if we'd known!" Thalia grabbed his hand and began to pull him out. "You need to see your cousins, and then you can tell us what you've been doing this whole time!" Katie watched as Zech left. Looking over, she saw the Aiyana was smiling and talking to Alfred and, by the way Alfred was blushing, was probably recounting some embarrassing part in his child hood. Quietly, she left through the back door.

Looking up, she saw it was raining, a light drizzle hitting her head, but she knew that it would turn into a downpour soon. Katie walked for a while until she found a rock that seemed to call her name and sat on it, the rain now fulfilling its promise of stronger rain. Bringing her legs up to herself, Katie allowed the a tear to drop from her eye, then another, until she was a mess, tears spilling, a small whimper coming from her mouth, her clothes completely soaked.

Why didn't she have any family that loved her? That wanted her? That would morn for her if she died? It was all because of that stupid bomb. The bomb that had killed hundreds which, compared to the population of the world, was little, but was big to those whose family died.

Her parents had gone on a walk with the Red headed man and the Blonde haired woman, as they had been doing every Saturday for a year. The man and woman would talk about… something, Katie couldn't remember what, but Katie usually went with her parents and hung out with the red-haired kid. The kid wasn't there today, but Katie didn't think much of it, running off far from her parents, carefree until the bomb went off.

The explosion had been loud, practically shattering her eardrum. She could remember feeling things flying through the air, small things, piercing her skin. She began to cry, the things finally stopping, and the world around her in chaos. Blood poured from her, but she began to run back toward where her parents were. And she found them and their friends.

They were bloody and burnt, having been close to the bomb when it went off. Her mom, the other mom, and the other dad weren't breathing, but her dad was giving rasping breathes. She had ran over to him, and he had looked at her, a small smile on his face that seemed so out of place with everything that had just happened.

"Katie…" Her dad said her name, and she scooted closer. "Y-you n-n-need to le-ave." Her dad choked out the words. Katie's tears fell faster as she kissed all four heads before starting to run. She hadn't gone very far when another bomb went off, burning her in some places, more things piercing her skin. She could hear people screaming, and she thought that maybe she was screaming too, but it was all such a blur before she passed out and her young mind blocked the whole event form her mind for years so that she didn't go mad.

Katie continued to sit on the rock, thinking about when she had lost her parents, so deep in thought that she didn't notice the boy approaching her, until her was hugging her.

"Katie, are you okay?" Zech held Katie, gently wiping away her tears.

"Y-yeah, I am. Why aren't you with your family?"

"Well, you see that's the thing. I love my family, but," Zech looked Katie in the eyes. "I think I love you more."

"Z-zech, you know after what happened-"

"Just one last chance, I swear, I won't mess up this time." Zech's face was defiant, telling Katie that he wasn't going to lose this fight.

"Fine, one last chance. But it's only because you found me in a weak moment."

"And I plan to always be there for you during your weak moments."

**A/N: Virtual cookie if you know who the two other parents were! :)**


	24. Chapter 23

_3 years later_

_The American Hero Trio and Aiyana are on some of the lesser used lines, the only ones there. _

_The Mexicans have upped the ante and the Americans have met it and are currently trying to raise it themselves._

"How are you holding up?" Katie called over to Alfred, Zech, and Aiyana.

"Pretty good, if you aren't counting that we're in a war and are currently fighting so we can live another day." Zech stopped shooting for a second, breathing in the dangerous aura. "And to think it seems like just yesterday that I would lie around the house and sleep. Now look at me."

"You're someone that everyone admires. There was a time when all the Natives were exited when I was in the neighborhood, fawning over me." Aiyana smiled as she grabbed another arrow. Alfred smiled and shook his head.

"I can't get it through my mind that it's been three years. How old are you guys now? 22 and 23?"

"Yep! And you don't look a day over 20 yourself. As a matter of fact, you seem like you haven't aged at all since I met you." Katie cast Alfred a suspisous glance while Alfred just gave a nervous laugh.

Then came the bullet.

Normal people wouldn't be able to track a bullet with the naked eye, but nations are actually hard-wired for it. Alfred could see it before it had even been shot. Katie wouldn't have time to move, and he was going to shoot true. Alfred quickly leapt in front of Katie, heard the gun's crack, and felt immeasurable pain in his heart. He briefly wondered whether or not he would die before the world was doused in black.

* * *

Katie's eyes were wide as big as dinner plates as Alfred fell back onto her. Catching him, she turned him around and was met with his own wide eyes that stared blankly at the sky above them. Katie placed her hand on the wound, the blood seeping in between her fingers. Zech and Aiyana just sat where they were, paralyzed, as tears began to stream down Katie's face.

"Who… did this?" Katie's whisper was hardly heard by her allies.

"WHO DID THIS?!" Katie's now screamed, and the miniature battlefield froze. Katie abruptly stood up, gun aimed at the enemy. She began firing rapidly. The Mexicans tried to fire at her, some even hit her, but it was useless. Adrenaline rushed through her body, numbing her sense of pain and of the rest of the world. All that mattered was firing at the enemy, killing the people who had killed one of her best friends.

The Mexicans eventually retreated, and as soon as they were out of sight, Katie collapsed on the ground, shaking, tears pouring down her face. Zech crawled over and wrapped her in a hug, kissing her forehead. Aiyana picked up her dead son and carried him off. Zech allowed Katie to lean on him and they followed after her.

* * *

Katie and Zech sat next to the bed that Alfred's corpse lay on. They had decided to wait to call and tell people about what had happened, give it some time to sink in. Aiyana stood in the corner, arms folded and watching Alfred carefully.

Zech gave a sigh and looked at the bullet wound that had lead to Alfred's demise. They had carefully cleaned the blood off the wound, and since the heart had stopped no more blood would come pouring out.

Which is the reason Zech yelped.

Katie and Aiyana jumped at the sudden noise before rushing over. Zech pointed wordlessly at the hole that the bullet had made, where blood was beginning to pour out. As they watched Alfred, he gave a sudden, sharp intake of breathe, eyes fluttering, before screaming. Aiyana was on top of him in seconds.

"MOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM! IT HURTS!" Alfred screamed and started to thrash around.

"Katie, Zech, hold him down! Alfred, I'm right here. Just give it a minute to get the bullet out." Aiyana put her hands on his chest and watched the wound as the bullet slowly come out. Once it was out, she grabbed it and pocketed it. "You know it'll be easy from here on out. Your heart just need a couple days to recover."

Alfred panted from his place on the bad. Zech stared wide-eyed from Aiyana to Alfred, while Katie looked triumphant.

"I knew it! I thought so! I mean there was no way it was a coincident in the character description! And from what it said in the book!" Katie ran over to her backpack and pulled out a book. The title read _The Lost Caremia._

"Why do you have that book?" Alfred asked, managing to get into a sitting position.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on!" Zech plopped down a chair, head in his hands. "Alfred was dead, now he's alive again, and both you and Aiyana seem to know what's going on."

"Well, you remember when I bought this book."

"Yeah it was the one you got at the book store right before I…" Zech trailed off. "Can we move on?"

"Of course, of course. Well, what I was going to tell you when you came home was that it was the first copy of the book ever sold. But the biggest thing is that there was a message on the front page from Michael G. Fitzgerald, you know, the last president, and I quote 'For the reader of this book, this is based off of real events that have happened and of real characters. Of course, there are also events that I have made solely from my imagination. What is real and what isn't is all up to you.' And when I saw you that day, like you were straight out of my book, I started to piece together what I thought was real and what wasn't. You, Alfred Freedom Jones, are the personification of America."


	25. Chapter 24

Zech looked between the three other people in the room. Katie had a triumphant look on her face, while both Aiyana and Alfred gave soft smiles.

"Looks like you found us out." Alfred leaned back, hand over his injured heart. "Those representatives that go to those meetings? Those are the other countries."

"Wait, if this is real, how are you even still alive?" Zech broke in. Alfred avoided his eyes, smile fading from his face.

"It's a sad tale that I don't want to talk about right now. But you are right, I should have died, but now I am back to being the personification of America." Alfred, or now America, smiled a bit sadly. "Now, could you guys go, I need to rest if my heart is going to heal properly."

* * *

"… so I think that the best thing we can do is divide and conquer." America explained to Aiyana, Zech and Katie. They all sat in a room planning what to do next, his heart having healed not too long ago. Katie and Zech had adjusted since then to the thought of having America as their best friend to the point that they hardly thought twice about it. "Every-so-often, I will Travel and see how you guys are doing, so if you need help don't try and hide it from me."

"We'll be fine Alfred, you'll see! The rest of this war will go like that!" Zech snapped his fingers.

_Time skip 10 years (I know, wow)_

_In this time, America has properly healed and the four corners have been taken under the control of American troops, which have grown dramatically. After the four corners, they all split up to cover more ground, only meeting face to face again when they got to the thirteen colonies, which nearly brings us up to speed. They are taking the last colony back currently, the simple thought of the war ending causing soldiers toe renew their fighting spirit. _

_(Also, Zech has proposed to Katie. They are to be married after the war.)_

Alfred smiled as he looked at the field. The final battle was coming to a close, he could feel it. Looking around, he saw Katie and Zech back to back, every so often sneaking a kiss. Men were grinning as the enemy receded more and more, probably thinking about how their family would be so glad to see them home alive. The other nations were fuming that America was winning, that a forced that hadn't existed a while ago had risen to power so quickly, but America would deal with them later.

A spot of white told him where Prussia was, who had recently decided to join the war on their side for the rest of the fight (though no other nations knew about this.) And finally, looking around he saw Aiyana was… nowhere to be found. Walking around, he finally found her in a alley.

Aiyana had one leg on England's chest, keeping him down. She had a blade pressed against his neck. Her eyes were dark and she licked her lips hungrily.

"I wonder how long I can torture you until you stop ticking?" Aiyana cut a gash into England's cheek before lifting the blade to her mouth and licking the blood off.

"MOM!" Aiyana turned around at his yell. Aiyana turned around, grinning darkly.

"Just in time for the show Alffie! Which should I break first, the leg or the arm?" Aiyana's leg pushed down harder on England, causing him to give a grunt. It was painfully obvious that he was trying not to show how much it hurt.

"Mom, this isn't you! Get off of him!" Alfred's eyes were wide.

"Oh, come on, you know this is still me. We _all _have this side to us. Surely you remember what I said about England the other day? And Spain when we were taking Florida, you were there."

_Alfred turned to hear some strangled screams. There he saw Spain, holding his axe. He had once stated at a World Meeting that although he loved his axe, guns seemed a less messy and more humane way of fighting, and yet there he was, chopping down American's, grinning like a mad man, eyes glinting as the red liquid rushed around him._

"And what about Japan?"

_Alfred worried about how Katie was doing in Hawaii, so naturally he used his power to see. Katie was holding up fairly well, but kept glancing nervously to her right. Looking, the American was shocked to see Japan. His eyes might have been red, and he had his sword drawn, slicing his way into American lines, mercilessly killing. _

"Russia?"

_Checking up on Zech, Alfred could see that he was fleeing. Looking behind Zech, he understood why. Russia was behind him in a clearing. Surrounding Russia were bodies, all lifeless. Russia wore his normal, creepy smile, his pipe caked in blood._

"And let's not forget Canada."

_Canada swung a hockey stick around, his custom one that had a blade edge. His face was one of pure anger. Kumojiruo sat, shaking, on the sidelines, scared of his own owner. _

_"Why can't I keep this last part of my brother?! Why can't you all just die?!" Canada screeched, people falling to his bloody fury._

"We're all monsters inside, aren't we? We disguise ourselves like humans, give ourselves a purpose that we try to believe, but really we're just monsters." Aiyana turned back to her prey. "And now then, where were we? Oh yes, let's start with the arm." Aiyana lifted her foot and brought it down on England's arm, with a gave sickening crunch. A small scream escaped England's mouth, but he quickly stopped it. Aiyana frowned. "Come on, I want more than that Mr. British Empire!"

Before Aiyana could do anymore, though, Alfred came up from behind her and punched her neck. There was a snap, and Aiyana fell to the floor like a rag doll. Holding out a hand, Alfred helped the England up. As he did, he could feel a wave of strength course through him, cheers erupting all over the country. America had won the final war. He watched as, at the same time, England seemed to get a little bit weaker, not much, but a little bit.

"Is she dead?" England cradled his arm and glanced at Aiyana.

"No, just knocked out." Alfred smile, lightly touching his cap. "Tell the other representatives to have a World Meeting here in five days." Alfred easily picked up Aiyana and walked off, leaving his brother and father figure behind.

**A/N: After all we've been through, we're coming to the end. I'm sorry if you wanted more of the rest of the states, but, I'll admit it, I was too lazy to write about another 45 states. Oh, and I just sort of thought of the song Demons by Imagine Dragons when I wrote this, you guys should check it out.**


	26. Chapter 26

Aiyana couldn't remember much about the previous day. She vaguely remembered an alley, something about England, and America, but the details were blurred. The one thing that come clearly was that America had snuck up behind her and punched her neck, breaking it and, in the process killing her. She had just woken up, neck aching, to find herself on a bed, Alfred staring at her.

"Good to see you're awake." Alfred smiled and grabbed her hand. "I hope you're out of that raging mode you were in."

"Yeah, I am, I'm so sorry about that. I don't know what got into." _Especially since I can't remember what happened._

"We won the war. It's finally over." Aiyana sharply turned her head, which was a bad choice on her part, pain arching through her neck.

"Careful mom, you've been out for five days. You haven't needed to recover from something that harmful for years, you're still healing." Alfred quickly grabbed some water and gave it to her.

"What happened while I was out?" Aiyana drank the water thirstily.

"Well, we won the war, Katie is now President, Zech is Vice President, and they've been trying to start getting the Government set up while planning when their wedding will be. Oh, and in an hour we're going to head to the World Meeting building for the big reveal!"

_One Hour Later_

America's grin as he entered the Meeting Rooms was bigger than it had been in ages. Inside all the nations were fidgeting, a few right-out glaring at the four-some, but America couldn't possibly care less. Today was the best day in his life, and they weren't going to change that. Looking around, he caught a wink from Prussia, who's grin could rival his own.  
"Hello, it is nice to see you all after all this time!" Katie took command of the situation, and America watched his new boss work. "I don't know how fast the news traveled, but our Revolutionary war ended five days ago, and we figured that we should present our representative to you."

"Ah, about that, Katie," Canada broke in. "But, you can't just _pick _a representative, you see, we're-" It was Katie's turn to break in.

"You guys are near immortal being that represents their own respective country. They feel everything that happens to said land, from physical, to emotional, to economical. Their bodies tend to end up scared from the many wars that their people have fought." Katie rambled before beholding the amazed looks from the other countries, that is, except for Prussia, who seemed to be trying not to laugh.

"How did you know this?" Germany asked.

"Welllll, you guys know Aiyana?" Katie gestured to Aiyana who stood there. It was only then that they all noticed that Aiyana was trying not to look at England, but Alfred had his handgun out, pointed at Aiyana. "Her name's not Aiyana. It's actually Native America." Something clicked to England.

"Wait, you're that girl that I saw when I first found this land! The one that I… oh." Aiyana gave a growl but remained calm, rubbing her neck.

"If I lose it again, please don't kill me Alffie." Aiyana complained.

"Now where were we? Oh yes that's right, our nation representative. Alfred would you?" Alfred's grin grew wider, if that was possible, as he reached to grab his hat and return Texas to his normal form. Everyone leaned in a bit, trying to get a look at the ever mysterious figure.

"Bruder, are you okay?" Germany looked at his brother, whose face was turning red from holding his breath and was pounding his fist on the table.

In one, clean, motion America whipped the hat off and changed Texas back into his old wire-rim. The room went deadly silent for a second, before it was abruptly torn through.

"Kesesesese, you should see your faces! You're all, 'OMG, it's America, what a surprise,' I mean, you guys kept saying he reminded you of America, but in the end you're all idiots!"

"Prussia, you knew?" Germany stared incredulously at his brother.

"Where did you think I kept sneaking off to? The beauty parlor? I helped train their troops! I fought in the battles! Didn't you notice how much half of your county was agreeing with America coming back?"

"America…" Canada stared at his brother for a second before running up and embracing him. Once he was done, he walked calmly over to England and punched him in the face. "That's for not believing me."

"Nice one bro!" America high-fived Canada, grinning. Off to the side, Zech, Katie, and Aiyana stood, all watching the American mingle through the crowd.

"My little America is growing up." Aiyana wiped her eyes.

"Katie, Aiyana, let's go and let America have some time. I think he's needed this for a while." Katie kissed Zech as he pulled her and Native America out of the room, heading to a small coffee shop. The world around them, the reborn America, was weak, new, and frail. There would need to be a lot of work done. But for now people happily walked down the streets, some still celebrating the end of the war. For a moment everything was quiet, safe, and okay. Not perfect, but okay, and that was all anyone could wish for.

_Time skip 100 years_

Standing in the front of a class room stood a man with sapphire eyes, blonde hair that had a cowlick, and glasses. Decorating the room were maps of the states and random facts about them. Kids filed into the class room, holding books and binders and all sorts of school supplies they would need, especially on the first day of school. It took a while for the class to settle down, as it was 7th period, but once they did the man started to speak.

"Hello, my name is Mr. Jones and I will be your US history teacher. Now, unlike most teachers, I prefer to go over the basics on the second day and start the first with a history lesson. How many people know about the Revolutionary war?" All the hands went up into the air. "How many know about both of them?" All hands stayed raised. Mr. Jones nodded in approval.

"Good, now then, how many of you know who these people are?" Mr. Jones reached over onto a desk and turned on a hologram (yeah future!). The hologram depicted a picture of four people. One had orange, unruly hair with piercing green eyes. The girl next to him had ebony hair that had a streak of red running down it, her eyes a beautiful hazel. The boy next to the pair was wearing a hat and sunglasses, so you could see many of his features, but his smile could have lit up the entire world. The final person was a woman. Her skin was dark and her hair black, eyes a chocolate brown.

"That is Alfred F. Jones, Zech Laitas, Katie Weiber, and Aiyana Jones, although the first three are more commonly called the American Hero Trio." A girl who looked especially smart spoke up.

"Ten points to Gryffindor!" Mr. Jones declared.

"What's that?"

"Never mind. Anyway, let's get on with the lesson. Alfred and Aiyana were mother and son, but there was surprising no records on either of them. As for Zech and Katie, they-"

"Got married." Two voices said in unison. Looking over, Mr. Jones saw two kids sitting at the same table. They seemed to be brother and sister. The girl had brown/black hair with green eyes while the boy had orange hair and hazel eyes. A smile spread across his face.

"That is correct. What we know about Zech's past is that his parents died, but they were among man yand he didn't find any relatives until the war had started. As for Katie, her parents also died, but she was then taken care of by her only remaining grandparent. No details were shared on this though, so all of them hold an unknown past." The lesson continued on like this. Once the final bell rang, Mr. Jones called the brunette and red-head back.

"You guys are Laitas', correct?" They both nodded, taking a seat. "Good, how much do you know about me?"

"Not much, just that you were going to tell us some family secret." The boy answered.

"Good, good, now, where to start? Oh yes, let's start with the beginning. It all started with the new President…"

**A/N: And thus, it comes to an end. I'm almost crying right now guys. I worked so hard, and now it's done. Please give me one last review, and tell me if you would read a prequel about their lives before all this happened.**

**Brownie: Bye *sniffle* Bye!**

**Fox: It was a pleasure meeting all of you. Farewell.**


End file.
